438 LETTER FROM DR. J. SHORTT. [Nov. 24, 



stuffed skins at present known to exist*. I do not, however, mean 

 to prolong these remarks by making any observations on the osteo- 

 logical structure of this bird. That I have reason to hope may be 

 fully described by a far more able pen ; for it is my intention to place 

 the specimen I now exhibit in the hands of Professor Owen, trusting 

 that he will make it the subject of one of those monographs which 

 have so materially enriched our series of ' Transactions.' I have 

 but to say in conclusion that, so far as I know, my "mummy" is, 

 vrith one exception, the only approach to a complete skeleton existing 

 in Europe. That exception is the specimen, nearly perfect, in the 

 Osteological Gallery of the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes at 

 Paris; for the remains of the two Gare-Fowls killed on Eldey in 1844, 

 •which were sent to Copenhagen, and are still preserved in the Phy- 

 siological Museum of the University there, have been dissected with 

 a view to show the different systems of organs ; they are therefore 

 even less available to determine the general osteology of the bird 

 than are the various loose bones which, through Stuvitz's labours, 

 exist in the Museums at Christiania and Copenhagen, that of our 

 Royal College of Surgeons, and in my own collection. 



November 24, 1863. 

 John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 



The Secretary exhibited a specimen of variegated wool from Ohio, 

 forwarded by Mr. J. P. Hazard, of Philadelphia, through Mr. C. R. 

 Weld, which seemed to show that the animal must have changed its 

 colour some seven or eight times in the course of the year prior to 

 its being clipped. 



Professor Tennant exhibited a very perfect fossil egg of the Mpy- 

 ornis maxima, lent to him for exhibition by M. J. F. Brunet. This 

 egg, which measured 35 inches in larger by 29 in smaller diameter, 

 was stated to have been obtained in Madagascar, "at a depth of 

 50 feet, in digging a mine of iron." 



The Secretary read the following letter from Dr. J. Shortt, F.Z.S., 

 relating to the fishing-propensities of the Pteropus of India: — 



" Sir, — At about 6 p.m. on the 30th of April last, when at Con- 



* Mr. Blyth, just six and twenty years ago, exhibited to this Society some 

 bones which had been left in a preserved skin of this bird (P. Z. S. 1837, p. 122 ; 

 and Ibis, 1861, p. 396, note). Within the last year, Mr. John Hancock extracted 

 from his own beautiful specimen, and from the very ancient and interesting ex- 

 ample in the Newcastle Museum, every hone they contained, without doing the 

 slightest damage to the skins, as might be seen at the late Meeting of the British 

 Association {Cat. of Exhibition, nos. 180, 185). 



