158 



II. Mittheilungen aus Museen, Instituten etc. 



1. Zoological Society of London. 



February 6th, 1900. — The Secretary read a report on the additions 

 that had been made to the Society's Menagerie during the month of January 

 1900, and called attention to the breeding of a pair of Blackheaded Buntings 

 [Emberiza melanocephala) in the Western Aviary, about the middle of the 

 month. — Mr. Oldfield Thomas exhibited and made remarks on some 

 mounted heads of Antelopes obtained on the Upper Nile by Capt. H. G. 

 Majendie. Amongst these were specimens of Cobus maria, C. leucotis, Dama- 

 liscus tiariffj and Gazella rufifrons. — Mr. G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, 

 F.Z.S., exhibited skins of the continental and British Dormice, which he 

 characterized as distinct, and proposed the subspecific name of anglica for 

 the British form. — Mr. Barrett-Hamilton also exhibited skins of the 

 Variable Hare [Lepus timidus Linn.) from Scotland and Ireland, to show their 

 subspecific characters; and gave a short synopsis of Palaearctic Variable 

 Hares, describing as suspecifically new, under the name of Lepus timidus ainu, 

 the representative form of the island of Yezo. — Mr. R. Trim en, F.R.S., 

 communicated a paper by Lieut.-Col. J. Malcolm Fawcett, entitled "Notes 

 on the Transformations of some South-African Lepidoptera." This memoir 

 was accompanied by a series of careful and characteristic coloured drawings 

 from life of larvae and pupae collected by the author during a residence in 

 Natal, chiefly at Ladysmith and Maritzburg. The early stages of seventeen 

 Bhopalocera and thirty-one Heterocera were described and figured. Nearly 

 all of these appeared to have been previously unpublished, and in the few 

 instances where previous publication had occurred, the illustrations had been 

 inexact or insuffiicient. In several species, not only the variations of the 

 full-grown larvae, but the changes exhibited at successive moults were well 

 shown, especially in the Natalian species of Papilio. Among the Heterocera 

 was specially noticeable the striking series of Saturniid larvae, and still more 

 the huge and extraordinary caterpillar of Lophostethus Dutnolinii, one of the 

 largest of the Smerinthine hawk-moths, which, in addition to the usual cau- 

 dal horn, bears many strong branched spines distributed over nearly the 

 whole of the body. Colonel Fawcett's descriptions and drawings were ac- 

 companied by notes of value on the distribution, food-plants, &c. of the 

 species concerned. — Mr. Trimen expressed his deep regret (which he felt 

 the Fellows of the Society would share) that the talented writer of this me- 

 moir, who had rejoined his regiment in Natal, was among those officers who 

 were known to have been severely wounded during the siege of Ladysmith. 

 — Mr. L. A. Borradaile, F.Z.S., read a paper on a small collection of 

 Decapod Crustaceans from freshwaters in North Borneo. The specimens 

 were referred to four species, of which one was a Prawn and three were 

 Crabs. Of the latter one was considered to be new, and was decribed under 

 the name of Potamon faulamaianum. — Mr. Oldfield Thomas read a paper 

 on the Mammals obtained in South-western Arabia by Messrs. Percival and 

 Dodson during the autumn of last year. Twenty-eight species were enume- 

 rated, and the collectors' field-notes upon them were given. — A communi- 

 cation was read from Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, C.M.Z.S., on the feigning of 

 death in Fishes, based principally on observations made on specimens of 

 Pseudopriacanthus alius and Epinephelus niveatus in the Aquarium of the Uni- 



