1899.] ON EUROPEAN SQTJITniELS. 3 



possiby this last point might not hold good in a large series of 

 Ferrets. Of the British Mustelidie, the Stoat had by far the 

 biggest feet in proportion to its size ; the Polecat had relatively 

 very small feet, those of Ferrets being decidedly larger ; while the 

 feet of these hybrids were markedly larger than the normal size of 

 those of Ferrets. 



Mr. Cocks also exhibited the skull of the reputed hybrid which 

 bad died ; together with, for comparison, a skull of a Stoat, of a 

 Polecat, and of a Polecat-Ferret cross (</. ' Zoologist,' 1880, p. 396). 



Mr. R. E. Holding exhibited some specimens of malformed 

 antlers of the Axis and Fallow Deer, and made the following 

 remarks upon them : — 



" The Axis J)eeY {Cervus axis) (fig. A, p. 4) lived over three years 

 in the Manchester Zoological Gardens, and on its death the body 

 was kindly sent to me by the proprietors, Messrs. Jennison. For 

 a considerable portion of this time it had seemed to be in ill-health. 

 The horns were never shed during that time. About two years ago 

 the soft tumour-like excrescences began to form at the base of the 

 horns. I saw it early last year, and it was then apparently suffering 

 fi-om some wasting disease, probably tuberculosis. It died early iu 

 December. There was unfortunately no jjost-mortem ; but judging 

 from numerous notes and specimens collected, and from records 

 in veterinary pathology, 1 think tlie specimen is interesting as 

 showing the intimate association between continued ill-health and 

 defective horn-growth. 



" The Fallow Buck (Cervus dama) (fig. B, p. 4) was five years old 

 when shot in August last and was in good condition. Throughout 

 last year it had grown a perfectly normal pair of horns. The abnor- 

 mality of the left horn is apparently due to a purely local cause, 

 viz., imperfect formation of the " burr" directly after shedding the 

 horns, causing the temporal artery, which supplies the blood to 

 the horn when at the velvety stage, to course through a hole in 

 the centre of the biu-r, and so dividing the beam up into points. 

 Some indication of disease at the pedicle is also apparent." 



Mr. G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, F.Z.S., exhibited some 

 specimens of European Squirrels, Sciurus vidgaris Linnaeus, to 

 illustrate the local colour-variations. He pointed out that the 

 British Squirrel was as different from those found on the Continent 

 as any animal could well be, being distinguishable at all seasons of 

 the year and not intergrading with Continental specimens. Yet 

 naturalists had been slow to recognize this fact ; and the extra- 

 ordinaiy seasonal changes in the coat of the animal (unparalleled, he 

 believed, among mammals) had never been systematically studied 

 until taken in hand by Mr. Oldfield Thomas (see 'Zoologist/ 1896, 

 p. 401). The correct name for the British Squirrel (as had been 

 pointed out by Mr. Thomas) appeared to be Sciurus leucurus^ Kerr. 



^ Spelt leucourus by Kerr (cf. ' Animal Kingdom,' p. 256, 1792). 



1* 



