674 3DR. WILLIAM NICOLL ON A UNIQUE 



It is apparently made from the skin of a young Cohus cob ; but 

 the white of the belly part and the inner part of the hind legs 

 you will see are transversely striped with inch-wide stripes, some 

 two or three inches apart, of a reddish-brown colouring exactly 

 resembling that of the animal. These stripes are doubtless made 

 with some native pigment or dye ; but they are so placed and the 

 colour is so permanent, so iixed and difficult to remove by any 

 means, that serious doubts have been entertained, as Mr. Thomas 

 will tell you, as to whether they were artificial or natural 

 markings. 



" It will be also noted that the white hair on the striped belly- 

 parts is curled and not unlike sheep's wool, but quite unlike any 

 known antelope. If this curling of the hair in this situation is 

 not natural, I can only suggest that it is produced by the heat 

 and chafing of the wearer's thighs." 



Mr. Oldfield Thomas, in commenting upon Dr. Christy's exhibit, 

 stated that there was little doubt that the stripes and curly 

 appearance of the hair were artificial, but the fact that the dye, 

 whatever it was, so closely resembled the natviral coloui- of the 

 animal and appeared to be so " fixed," the possibility of the skin 

 belonging to some antelope hitheito quite unknown had been very 

 carefully considered at the Natural History Museum. 



On a unique Pathological Condition in a Hare. 



(Text-figure 165.) 



Dr. William Nicoll, M.A., F.Z.S., exhibited some pre- 

 parations from a Common Hare {Lepus europceus), which showed 

 an interesting and unique pathological condition. The hare was 

 obtained by W. Raphael Muckley, Esq., and sent by him to the 

 British Museum, whence it was forwarded to the Lister Institute 

 of Preventive Medicine. The manner in which the hare died 

 was somewhat remarkable. It was observed by Mr. Muckley to 

 pitch violently out of a hedge on to the roadside where it lay 

 struggling, and it died about three hovirs later. To him the 

 symptoms seemed to point to poisoning. At the jjost mortem 

 examination the liver was found to be extensively invaded with 

 small whitish chalky deposits of various sizes, especially con- 

 spicuous on the posterior surface. There was also a considerable 

 amount of chronic inflammation around the liver, with adhesions 

 to the diaphragm. On section, the liver was friable and gritty. 

 The concretions were amoiphous and insoluble in acid. The bile- 

 ducts showed some fibrous thickening. On microscopic exam- 

 ination of a scraping from the liver, numei'ous ova of peculiar 

 structure were seen. They were fairly uniform in size, measuring 

 •057 X "033 mm. At first sight they bore a considerable resem- 

 blance to the eggs of Trichuris {Trichocephalus) or Trichosoma, 

 but on more careful inspection they presented one or two unusual 

 features. The colour was much lighter, being greyish instead of 

 brown. The shell consisted of two layers, the outer of which 

 was marked with pronounced radial stiiations ; the inner was 



