ZOOLOGICAL PROGRESS IN 1903. 
By R. LypEKKEr. 
ees after the appearance of the volume of that invaluable publication the 
“Zoological Record” for the period in question, it would be a difficult task for 
one man to attempt to give an adequate and all-round account of the progress made 
in Zoology during any year. How much harder, then, must it be to make such an 
attempt when there are still nearly two months of the year to run, and many foreign 
publications of the earlier ones have not yet reached this country. Accordingly, all 
that can be attempted is to refer to some of the more important and interesting 
books and memoirs on zoological subjects published during the present year that have 
come under my personal notice. 
Firstly, it must be mentioned that the year, so far as it has yet gone, has not 
been marked by any startling zoological discovery, such as the one which led to 1901 
being called the “ Okapi year” in the ‘“ Zoological Record.” If any such title can be 
claimed for 1903, the term ‘“ Elephant year” would perhaps be the most appropriate. 
For it must undoubtedly be admitted that the memoir by Dr. C. W. Andrews “ On 
the Evolution of the Proboscidea,’ issued in the “Transactions” of the Royal Society, 
is the most important publication of the year so far as not only mammals, but 
vertebrates in general are concerned. Although this paper is mainly paleontological, 
and therefore to a great extent beyond the scope of the present article, it may be 
mentioned that not only does the author demonstrate the descent of elephants and | 
their extinct forerunners, the mastodons, from animals much more nearly akin to 
ordinary hoofed mammals, but he also shows how the trunk of modern elephants has 
been evolved, by a lengthening of the fore-part of the lower jaw and muzzle, followed 
by a shortening of the former with an increase in the length of the latter. 
Among the higher mammals, considerable interest attaches to the description by 
Dr. P. Matschie, of Berlin (in the “ Sitzungsberichte” of the Berlin Naturalists’ Society), 
of an eastern representative of the gorilla; that ape having hitherto been known only 
from the west coast of Africa and its hinterland. ‘The eastern form, which is named 
Gorilla beringet, was found on Mount Kirunga, between Lakes Albert Edward and 
Kiva, on the border between the Congo Free State and German Hast Africa. 
Passing one stage lower in the mammalian class, attention may be briefly directed 
to Prof. Elliot Smuith’s valuable memoir on the structure of the brain of the lemurs 
published in the “Transactions” of the Linnean Society, although the subject is too 
technical for fuller notice in this place. It may also be mentioned here, although 
out of its proper order, that Prof. Smith has published another memoir in the same 
journal dealing with certaim peculiarities in the brain of reptiles. 
Of more general interest are the investigations of Mr. L. H. Adams into the structure 
of the so-called “fortress” of the mole, that is to say, of the breeding-hillock, which 
appeared early in the year in the “Memoirs” of the Manchester Philosophical Society. 
Although his observations were to some extent forestalled by Mr. Alston, the author 
has shown the prevalent idea of the form of the runs in this fortress to be untrue. 
During the year Mr. R. I. Pocock has made a further contribution to the subject 
of the use of the coloration of mammals, showing in this instance (in an article 
contributed to “ Nature”) that the white rump-patch and legs of many ungulates, such 
as the wild asses and quaggas, come into line with the white of the under-parts when 
the creatures are lying down, thus intensifying the protective effect of the latter. 
The present writer (in “The Field”) has also pointed out that (in addition to those 
of the Arctic regions) it is only mammals inhabiting latitudes where there is an 
autumnal fall of the leaf that have a seasonal change of colour. 
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