42 



cavity of rat-fieas {Ceratophyllus fasciatus). One of these species 

 ]iad been found in about foui' per cent, of the fleas examined and 

 had been shown, by means of feeding experiments carried on by 

 Dr. Nicoll, to be the larval form of the common rat-tapeworm 

 {Ilymenolepis diminuta). The other species, of which so far only a 

 single example had been found, was probably the larva of Hyme- 

 nolepis onurina, a species occurring in rats and mice, arid very 

 similar to, possibly identical with, H. nana, a dangerous tapeworm 

 of man. The chief interest of the discovery lay in the fact that 

 no intermediate host was previously known for this tapeworm. 



The Hon. IST. Charles Rothschild, M.A., F.Z.S., exhibited 

 sevei'al species of Fleas which were of interest in connection with 

 the spreading of plague by these insects. 



Mr. R. I. PococK, F.L.S., F.Z.S., exhibited a living specimen 

 of the Black Rat {Mihs rattus) from Sark, which had recently 

 been presented to the Society's Mena.gerie by Mrs. C, Russell. 



Mr. R. I. PococK also exhibited a female hybrid, bred in the 

 Society's Gardens, between a male Black Lemur {Lemur macaco) 

 and a female of the Red-fronted variety of the Fulvous Lemur 

 (Lemur fulvus rujifrons), and pointed out that the offspring re- 

 sembled neither of its parents. It had not inherited the facial 

 fringe of its father nor the white over the eyes and on the fore- 

 head of its mother, this area of the head being dark ashy black 

 with a deeper tinted central line, more approaching the colour 

 seen in the Black-fronted variety of the Fulvous Lemur (L. fulvus 

 nigrifrons). 



Mr. J. Lewis Bo]S[hote, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S., read a paper 

 dealing with some experiments he had made on the occurrence of 

 the webfoot character in Pigeons. After referring to Mr. R. 

 Staples Browne's paper on the subject in the P. Z. S. for 1905, in 

 which that gentleman had shown the webfoot to be a simple 

 Mendelian recessive, Mr. Bonhote instanced further cases from 

 the lofts of Mr. F. W. Smalley, F.Z.S., that bore out Mr. Staples 

 Browne's conclusions. Both these gentlemen, however, had been 

 kind enough to give the author birds from their strains, and in 

 the first instance when webbed bii'ds from the different strains 

 were crossed an irregular result — namely, 4 normal and 1 webbed 

 — was obtained. Matings from these birds were continued, and 

 the results were, in almost every case, contrary to Mendelian 

 expectations, normals throwing webs, and webs throwing normals. 

 After discussing various suggestions, Mr. Bonhote came to the 

 conclusion that no really satisfactory explanation was forthcoming. 

 The Mendelian inheritance was apparently there, but dominated 

 and modified b}' some other agency, and he had been able to find 

 no single explanation which would cover all the results. 



