1885.] PROF. LANKESTER ON THE HEART OF APTERYX. All 



6. Note ou Viverricula. By St. G. Mivart, F.R.S. 



[Eeceived April 29, 1885.] 



In 1882 I stated before this Society (see P. Z. S. 18S2, p. 1-19) that 

 Viverricula was distinguished from Viverra by having (amongst otlier 

 characters) " a very small bald spot on the tibial side of the plantar 

 pad." I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Blanford, F.R.S., 

 for calling my attention to the fact that this spot is really the 

 homologue of the hallucal pad of Viverra, and 1 am therefore 

 anxious to rectify the above-cited assertion. 



There is indeed a striking diflference between the feet of Viverra 

 and Viverricula, as the much greater remoteness of this small 

 hallucal spot from the large plantar pad causes the bald spot to be 

 much more conspicuous in the latter genus, but its distinctness 

 consists in its being more obvious and is not a distinctness of 

 homology. 



7. On the Right Cardiac Valve of the Specimens o£ Apteryx 

 dissected by Sir Richard Owen in 1841. By E. Ray 

 Lankester, M.A., F.R.S. 



[Eeceived April 25, 1885.] 



In a former communication * I showed that it was highly probable 

 that the heart figured and described bv Sir R. Owen in 1842, in 

 the 'Transactions ' of the Society, as the heart of an Apteryx was 

 m reality the heart of an Ornithorhynchus. I based this opinion on 

 the facts : — 1. That the structure of the right cardiac valve as de- 

 scribed and figured by Sir Richard more nearly resembled that of 

 Ornithorhynchus than that of any other animal. 2. That in two 

 hearts oi Apteryx examined by j\Jr. Beddard and in one examined 

 by myself, tlie structure of the right cardiac valve was precisely 

 similar to that of an ordinary bird, and difiPered altogether from Sir 

 Richard Owen's description and figure. 3. That in the College of 

 Surgeons Museum there was a heart of Ornithorhynchus with the 

 right cardiac valve displayed much as in Sir Richard Owen's figure 

 of a supposed Apte]'y.v-\ie?i.vt, and that on this preparation was 

 painted the name Apteryx australis. 4. That this heart — actually of 

 Or/u7AorAywc/m« but labelled "Apteryx" — was entered in the Catalogue 

 as the heart of Apteryx australis, the entry having been made 

 apparently at a date corresponding to the time when Sir Richard 

 was Hunterian Curator. 



Sir Richard Owen has since communicated to the Society a note, 

 in which he expresses himself as unable to accept the explanatiun 

 which I have suggested of the fact that the right cardiac valve of 

 Apteryx as described by him differs so completely from that struc- 

 ture as seen by Mr. Beddard^ and myself in other specimens. He 



^ P. Z. S. 1885, p. 239. ^ Cf. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 188. 



