TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 153 



Notice of the Skull of a Seal from the Gulf of California. By Dr. M'Bain. 

 On the Classification of the Salmonidce. By It. Knox, M.D. 



On a New Species o/" Galago (Galago murinus)/rom Old Calabar. 

 By Andrew Murray, Edinburgh. 



After giving some details regarding the habits of this Galago, which he had 

 received from his correspondent, the Rev. W. C. Thomson, one of the United Pres- 

 byterian missionaries stationed in Old Calabar, and pointing out its specific di- 

 stinctions, the author took the opportunity of discussing the value of the characters 

 of the convolutions of the brain and its extension over the cerebellum, recently 

 brought prominently forward by Prof. Owen as of primary importance in the clas- 

 sification of the mammifera, as exhibited in the osculant group of the Quadrumana 

 to which the Galago belongs. The conclusion to which he arrived was confirmatory 

 of the views of Prof. Owen : like him, he considered the insectivorous monkeys an 

 exception to the general rule drawn from the convolutions of the brain (without dis- 

 paraging that character), and would retain them among the Quadrumana, unless in- 

 deed a separate tribe should be erected for their reception — which the other charac- 

 ters of the internal structure scarcely seemed to justify, notwithstanding the external 

 peculiarities of these animals, which partake of the bat, of the squirrel, of the hedge- 

 hog, &c, as well as of the monkey. 



On the Habits and Instincts of the Chameleon. By W. E. C. Nourse, 

 F.R.C.S., Fellow of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society. 



When travelling in Nubia with a friend, we procured seven chameleons. Their 

 prevailing colour was a bright delicate green. Occasionally, they turned dark, some 

 more frequently than others ; and when irritated, as by tickling or interfering with 

 them, they first came out all over in spots, then turned dark, at the same time 

 arching the back, inflating the body, opening the mouth very wide, and puffing at 

 the intruder, or trying to bite. If they got a finger into their mouths, they had 

 power enough to give it a smart pinch, but not to cut the skin. 



Two of the chameleons were brought to us damaged or sickly ; their green was 

 very pale, and their skin soft and flabby. One soon died. The other lingered 

 nearly a fortnight, and cast its skin ; this one was always covered with dark spots 

 like a leopard, and never changed colour. Of the remaining five, two got away, and 

 two more died from eating spiders. They first showed signs of torpidity, keeping 

 one eye closed, then became puffed up, and lost power in their limbs; and their 

 skin, of a very pale green, got soft and flabby, while a great oval black patch deve- 

 loped itself on each of their sides ; and they died in from twenty-four to forty-eight 

 hours after eating the spiders. These black patches were not mortification, nor yet 

 any change of colour in the skin. The skin, on being removed, was colourless ; 

 the subjacent muscles there were black ; and the small intestines, which lay against 

 them, were filled with black matter like treacle. Thus in three weeks we had only 

 one chameleon left. This was a very large one, 11| inches long from the tip of his 

 nose to the end of his tail. We had also given him a spider or two ; and for some 

 days he seemed torpid and unwell, keeping one eye closed ; but after feeding him 

 with flies, twelve to eighteen in a day, and occasionally a little atom of raw meat, 

 he got well and active, and fed himself. His way of feeding was this. On warm 

 days he would begin early in the morning, his time appearing to depend entirely on 

 the degree of power of the sun. As soon as the sun was well up, if put in a window 

 with flies, he would begin eating them, generally yawning and rubbing his nose 

 against his perch after every three or four. In about half an hour he would have 

 eaten twenty-one or twenty-two flies, as I often counted; and would then begin to 

 walk about. The rest of the day he would alternately walk and rest, picking off a 

 fly occasionally when in the humour. Perhaps he might eat thus eight or ten more; 

 but I never saw him take more than one grand feed in the day ; so that his average 

 might amount to thirty or thirty-five flies a day. He never seemed to wish for 

 water, but rather disliked it — if dropped into his mouth, he showed signs of distress, 



