110 KEPORT— 1870. 



triumpt of genius over natural difficulties is constantly shown, in tlie unremitting 

 exertions of the fair proprietor to cultivate all the plants capable of introduc- 

 tion, and also the native plants which, with care, conduce to the beauty of the 

 pastures. 



Amongst other familiar denizens of the hill-side, the L. cnrnieiilatm has been 

 a favourite for pot-cidture with Miss Mowatt, who has found a very remark- 

 able change to take place in that plant imder cultiva,tion in her greenhouse. 

 From being procimibent and herbaceous, the stems become erect and woody, rising 

 in the largest plant I saw to the height of something over 3 feet ; the wood of 

 the stem being extremely hard, approaching that of the Medicago arlorea found 

 in Italy, whilst the leaflets are increased from the usual number of five to seven. 

 These shrubby plants, fi'om all I could ascertain, are easily propagated by cuttings, 

 but do not bear seed. They are, however, valued as evergreen window-plants ; 

 and I saw several so cultivated in Lerwick, all derived from Miss Mowatt's plants 

 iu Bressay. 



On the Osteology of Chlamydophorus truncatus. By Edwaeb Atkinson, F.L.8. 



A fine male specimen of this little Edentate, now nearly extinct iu its sole ha- 

 bitat (Mendoza, Argent. Rep. S. A.), having been presented to the Philosophical 

 and Literary Society of Leeds, has afforded a rare opportunity for reviewing and 

 connecting the published accounts of its osteology. The adult animal is barely 

 6 inches m length. 



Reference was made to its bibliography from Dr. Harlan, of Philadelphia 

 (1825), to Prof Hyrtl, of Vienna (1855), and Dr. Gray (I860). 



Head. — The general confoiiuation of the head is very remarkable, differing from 

 all other Edentates in its relative dimensions, and excelling all its congeners both 

 in altitude and in breadth, as compared with length. 



Loiver jaw has pachydermatous characters, e. y. its great depth, perpendicular 

 ramus, rounded angle, and the shortness of its coronoid process as compared with 

 the condyloid; yet it bears a resemblance to the jaw of the insectivorous Ma~ 

 croscelides, which has also a short coronoid. 



JEar. — The external ear is unique iu structure. There is no pinna; but a flat- 

 tened and ossified acoustic tube, analogous to the meatus auditorius externus, ex- 

 tends from the tympanic bulla for a length of 4 lines, ascending over the zygoma, 

 and terminating close to the eye by a delicate cup-like cartilaginous concha, which 

 is protected and concealed by the fur just below the overhanging chlamys. 



Scapula. — The shoulder-blade differs in form from all the Edentata, is curved 

 downwards to a sharp point like a pruning-hook, has its dorsal surface divided by 

 two spines into three nearly equal portions (as in Choloejnis). The upper spine sup- 

 ports an enormously long acromion. 



Stermim. — The manubrium and first mesostemal bone have a sharp crest or 

 keel, a vestige of a bird-like sti'ucture seen iu a less degi-ee in Clwlajnis and Dasy- 

 ]yi(s, and in the " interclavicle " of Ornithoi-hytichvs. This feature, however, in 

 Chlainydophorifs, taken together with the ribs, which are ossified in front and arti- 

 culated in the middle, is more oiTiithic than in either of these animals. 



Pelvis. — Anomalous in all its parts. The pubis is open in front, as in the Sloths 

 and the Shrews, but proportionately more than in either. 



The sphaTonui, or bony pelvic shield, which forms the characteristic truncated 

 extremity of the body, is formed by the confluence of the tuhcra ischii, and 

 strengthened by bony buttresses from the sacrum. The structure of this mar- 

 vellous development was described in detail. It has no analogy to the cutaneous 

 skeleton in the Armadillos proper ; for in these the bony plates are never united 

 to the pelvis or other normal parts of the skeleton by a true synostosis. 

 ' Dmtition. — Ch. truncatus is a true homodont, with eight grinders on either side 

 of both maxilla and mandible. They are slightly curved, so that each tooth, 

 taken together with its antagonist, describes an arc of 25° with the convexity for- 

 wards. The first tooth of the lower jaw has no opponent, and therefore no masti- 

 catory surface. The eighth upper tooth is also without an antagonist, but, unlike 

 its analogue in front, it lias a double facet, 



