1897.] ON THE OEANG-OUTANG IN THE SOCIETY S GARDENS. 721 



June 15, 1897. 

 Dr. St. George Mivart, F.E.S., V.P., in the Chair. 



The Secretary read the following report on the additions to the 

 Society's Menagerie daring the month of May 1897. 



The registered additions to the Society's Menagerie during the 

 month of May were 199 in number. Of these 63 were acquired by 

 presentation, 22 by purchase, 65 in exchange, 7 were born in the 

 Gardens, and 42 were received on deposit. The total number 

 of departures during the same period, by death and removals, 

 was 113. 



Amongst these special attention was called to : — 



1. A fine collection of West-Indian and North- American Kep- 

 tiles, presented by Mr. E. E. Mole, C M.Z.S., May 11th, 1897. 



2. Two Blue Penguins (Eudi/ptula minor), from New Zealand, 

 purchased May 21st. Only one example of this elegant little 

 Penguin has been previously received by the Society. 



Dr. G. H. Fowler, on behalf of the Zoological Museum at 

 University College, exhibited the unique specimen of a Crab 

 {Carcinus nuenas) recently described by Dr. Bethe, which carried a 

 right thoracic leg on the left half of the sixth abdominal segment. 



Mr. Keith exhibited some lantern- slides of the Orang-outang, 

 lately living in the Society's Gardens. He pointed out that the 

 Orang assumed the same posture as man in sleep, prone upon its 

 side, with its arms and legs folded on its belly, one hand over and 

 one hand under its head, and that the hair was arranged to afford 

 the animal protection while it was in that posture. The hair 

 upon the body and limbs formed together a continuous thatch 

 for the animal while it slept. This explanation accounted for the 

 transverse direction of the hairs upon the distal portions of the leg, 

 foot, forearm, and hand. He was unable to verify the distinction 

 Dr. "Walker Kidd had drawn between the human and anthropoid 

 types of hair-arrangement on the limbs. In the Orang, as in 

 man, there was a distinct line of division between the dorsal and 

 ventral hairs on the body, the line running from the groin to the 

 axilla and some way on to the thigh below and the arm above. This 

 line might be called the inguino-axillary line of division. While 

 the meaning of this " hair-shed " in man was obscure, its explana- 

 tion was perfectly evident in the Orang. Along that line, the 

 thigh and arm were folded on the belly, the hair on the body dorsal 

 to that line being, in the sleeping posture, continuous with the 

 hair on the thighs and arms, while ventral to the line the hair was 

 grouped round the umbilicus. 



The present animal had died of acute disseminated tuberculosis, 

 the primary seat of infection being probably in the intestines, 



