1898.] MR. W, E. DE WINTON ON HIPPOTKAGUS EQUINUS. 127 



March 1, 1898. 

 Dr. W. T. Blanfoed, F.R.S., F.Z.S., in the Chair. 



Mr. Boulenger exhibited, ahve, a hybrid male Newt, the result 

 o£ the crossing of a hybrid Molge cristata x M. marmorata with 

 the former species, which had been reared at Argenton-sur-Creuse 

 by M. E. Kollinat. 



Hybrids between the above-named species had been described 

 many years ago as a distinct species, M. blasii de I'lsle, and, 

 although their true nature had been suspected by the describer 

 himself, it was only within the last few years that their hybrid 

 origin had been seriously advocated by Peracca, Paratre, and 

 Heron-Royer. However, in the absence of direct evidence, the 

 conclusions of these observers had not been generally accepted, and 

 in his recently pubhshed ' Schwanzlurche Europas ' Bedriaga had 

 provisionally maintained M. blasii as a distinct species. M. B/oUi- 

 uat's successful experiments have now removed all doubts on this 

 point, and the specimen exhibited, as well as others obtained by 

 the same gentleman, showed the hybrids to be fertile inter se, and, 

 by crossing again with the parent forms, to revert to either, as 

 had been presumed by the above-mentioned authors. The present 

 specimen could hardly be distinguished from a typical Molge 

 cristata except for the colour of the ventral surface, which was of 

 a duller orange. 



It was Mr. Bouleuger's intention to institute, in conjunction 

 with his friend Mr. Albert Pam, P.Z.S., a further experiment 

 during the coming spring, by placing in a large tank a number of 

 female M. marmorata from France with males of M. cristata from 

 England, in the hope of obtaining offspring that would be refer- 

 able to the much-discussed M. blasii. The results of the experi- 

 ment, if any, would be laid before the Society. 



Mr. W. E. de Winton exhibited the head-skin of a Eoan 

 Antelope {Hippotragus equinus) from British East Africa. It had 

 been brought home by Mr. S. L. Hinde, to whom it was presented by 

 the Collector at Machakos ; unfortunately the name of the Collector 

 and the exact locality where the animal had been shot were not 

 noted when it was deposited at the British Museum. The interest 

 in this specimen lay in the fact that it was believed to be the first 

 that had been brought to this country, although the species had 

 long been known to occur in that district \ This Antelope would 

 seem to have the widest range of any known form, extending as it 

 did from the Cape Colony to Abyssinia, where Sir Samuel Baker 

 has obtained it, and crossing the continent to Senegal. The 

 Abyssinian form has been described as distinct by Von Heuglin 

 under the name of IT. balceri, but its right to the rank of a separate 

 species was, in Mr. de Winton's opinion, extremely doubtful. 



1 Cf. Jackson, P. Z. S. 1897, p. 454. 



