113 



August 11, 1835. 

 Dr. Horsfield in the Chair. 



A letter was read, addressed to the Secretary by J. B. Harvey, 

 Esq., Corr. Memb. Z.S., and dated Teignmouth, June 7, 1835. It 

 referred to the writer's success in dredging over the rocky ground 

 oft' Torquay, whence he anticipates that he shall obtain many in- 

 teresting Corallines and Asferice, A selection from those already 

 collected by him, including a specimen of the genus Comatula, 

 accompanied the letter and were exhibited. 



Mr. Harvey states that the specimen of Caryophyllia Smithii, re- 

 ferred to in a previous letter, (page 4,) is still living in his possession 

 and is quite healthy. " The half one by the side of it, which was 

 broken in forcing it from the rocks, is also alive, and has nearly 

 reproduced the round shell : the cup was destroyed, at the time it 

 came into my hands, for considerably more than half its circumfer- 

 ence; in the course of the eight months which have since elapsed 

 the reproduction has been such as nearly to complete the circumfer- 

 ence of the cup. The Pyrgomata on the coralline are also alive." 



Mr. Burton, at the request of the Chairman, placed upon the 

 table a specimen of the species of Ratelus originally described by 

 Pennant as the Indian Badger, and by Shaw under the name of 

 Ursus Indicus. To aid in its comparison with the Ratel of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, from which Mr. Burton regards it as distinct, 

 he describes it in considerable detail. 



" This animal, which evidently belongs to the last genus of Cu- 

 vier's arrangement of the Plantigrades, measures from the tip of the 

 nose to the extremity of the tail 3 feet 3 inches, of which the head 

 and neck occupy IHinches, leaving 21^ for the length of the body. 

 The anterior extremity is 8 inches long, exclusive of the nails ; the 

 posterior about 6. The length of the head may be about 6'^ inchesj 

 but the great thickness of the neck, the outline of which is con- 

 tinuous with the vertex, renders the exact occipital termination of 

 the head imperceptible. From the extremity of the nose to the 

 inner angle of the eye is 2 inches : from the same point to the ex- 

 ternal opening of the ear is 44-. From the comparative length of 

 the body and limbs it results that the animal is very low on the 

 legs (or, as the French authors term it, trapu), long in relation to 

 its height, and necessarily higher before than behind. When 

 standing, it cannot be computed at more than 9 or 10 inches high 

 at the shoulder, and about 6 or 7 at the crupper. 



" The head is rather small for the size of the neck and body. 

 The eye is likewise remarkably diminutive, the distance between 

 the extreme points of the canthi being less than half an inch, an 

 opening which leaves little space for the eyeball externally. There 



No. XXXH. — Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 



