119 



October 23. 1838. 

 William Yarrell, Esq., in the Chair. 



A letter was read from M. Julien Desjardins, Secretary of the 

 Natural History Society of the Mauritius, stating that it was his in- 

 tention to leave that island ou the 1st of January next, for England, 

 with a large collection of objects in natural history, many of which 

 he intended for the Society. A letter from Colonel P. Campbell, 

 Her Majesty's Consul General and Agent at Alexandria, was also 

 read. In this letter Col. P. Campbell states that he had not yet 

 succeeded in gaining any further information respecting the pro- 

 bability of procuring some White Elephants for the menagerie. A 

 letter received from Lieut. -Colonel Doherty, Governor of Sierra 

 Leone, stated, that he was using every exertion to procure for the 

 Society a male and female Chimpanzee, in which attempt he fully 

 expected to be successful ; but he feared that he should not be 

 able to obtain a living specimen of the Hippopotamus, from the 

 sujierstitious dread with which the natives regard these animals. 



Some specimens of Flying Lemurs {Galeopltheciis) were upon the 

 table, and in reference to them Mr. Waterhouse stated that his ob- 

 ject in bringing them before the Meeting was to notice certain cha- 

 racters which appeared to him to indicate the existence of two spe- 

 cies in these specimens. He remarked that in systematic works three 

 species of the genus Galeopithecus are described, founded upon dif- 

 ferences of size and colour ; as regards the latter character, he had 

 never seen two specimens which precisely agreed ; and with respect 

 to size, the dimensions given of two out of the three species are evi- 

 dently taken from extremely young animals. Mr. Waterhouse then 

 proceeded to point out the distinctive characters of the two species 

 on the table, for which he proposed the specific names of Temminckii 

 and PhiUippinensis ; of these two the first is the larger species, mea- 

 suring about two feet in total length, and having a skull two inches 

 eleven and a half lines in length. The anterior incisor of the upper 

 jaw is broad and divided by two notches into three distinct lobes ; 

 the next incisor on each side has its anterior and posterior margins 

 notched; and the first molar (or the tooth wliich occupies the situa- 

 tion of the canine) has its posterior edge distinctly notched. This 

 tooth is separated by a narrow space anteriorly and posteriorly, from 

 the second incisor in front, and the second molar behind ; the tem- 

 poral ridges converge towards the occiput, near which, however, 

 they are separated usually by a space of about four lines. 



The second species (G. FhUippinensis) is usually about twenty 

 inches in length, and has a skull two inches seven lines in length. 

 Jt may be distinguished from G. Temminckii by the proportionately 

 larger ears, and the greater lengtli of the hands ; the skull is nar- 

 rower in proportion to its length ; the muzzle is broader and more 



