236 DB. ST, GEOEQE MITABT ON THE [Feb. 4, 



back like those of a Seal, I found great difficulty, from the confor- 

 mation of the skeleton, in comprehending how this could be 

 effected. Mr. Snow writes me that " the hind flippers, when 

 the Otter ia travelling on shore, are brought under the body, but 

 doubled up backwards, somewhat after the manner of the rough 

 sketch enclosed, which, I may mention, has been drawn by a friend 

 — who never has seen a Sea-Otter — from my description. This 

 sketch [which forms the basis of the figure, p. 235] fairly repre- 

 sents the animal, but the hind quarters are not quite correct. 



"The human hand will serve as a good illustration of the hind 

 flippers of the Otter, the under part of the flipper corresponding 

 to the palm of the hand. Imagine a hand, the fingers united by a 

 thin web, the whole surface on both sides, with the exception of 

 five small, black, naked spots on the balls of the finger, covered 

 with hair. The Otter apparently has little or no muscular power 

 in the finger part of its flippers, and when attempting to walk, or 

 rather jump, along on shore, this part is doubled under the portion 

 corresponding to the knuckles of the hand." 



7. On the Hyoid Bones of Nestor meridionalis and Nanodes 

 discolor. By St. George Mivart, M.D., F.R.S. 



[ReceiTed January 16, 1896.] 



In a paper read ^ before the Zoological Society on March 5th 

 last, I described the structure of the hyoids of certain Lories, and 

 compared them with that of Psittacus erilhucus and that of Strimjops 

 habroptilus. 



Therein I called attention to the processes which I named 

 parahyal processes, and which, so far as I have been able to 

 ascertain, seem peculiar to the Psrri'AOi. I pointed out that the 

 three genera of Lories described and figured, namely, Bos, Lorius, 

 and Trichoylossus, differed from other Pari-ots in having these 

 parahyal processes much prolonged and distally united, each pair 

 forming a singularly delicate osseous structure which 1 termed the 

 parahyal arch. 



Subsequently, when considering the form of the tongue, I 

 thought it would be very interesting to ascertain whether the two 

 genera, the prolonged lingual papllloe of which have a certain 

 resemblance to those of the Lohiid^, did, or did not, also possess 

 a parahyal arch. 



This question, through the kindness of Mr. P. E. Beddard, 

 ' F.ll.S., I have lately been able to determine by examining the 

 i hyoid structure of Nestor meridionalis and Nanodes discolor. 



In the hyoid of Nestor, the hasihyal (b, fig. 1, p. 237) is long and 

 narrow, much as in the genera of LouuuyE before described. The 

 upper end of its anterior articular surface does not project so much 

 preaxiad as does its ventral lip. The latter is narrow andpointed, 



» See P.Z. S. 1895, pp. 102-174, figs. 1 to C. 



