468 DR. H. HAMMOND SMITH ON GRITS [May 28, 



measurements range from 10 to 15 inches. On the other 

 hand, the length along the front curve is 22 1 inches, which places 

 the specimen an equal fourth in the ' Records,' whilst the circum- 

 ference is 12 inches, against a i-ange of 11 to 13 inches in the 

 same ' Records.' 



Hodgson, who originally described Budorcas (Journ. As. Soc. 

 Bengal, 1850, p. 65), thought its nearest affinity was with the 

 Gnus, but that in a natural system its place would probably be 

 assigned between these and the Musk Oxen. 



Matschie (Sitz-Ber. Gesells. Naturf. Berlin, 1896, p. 30) carried 

 further the suggestion of the affinity with the Musk-Ox, although 

 he appears to have overlooked that Hodgson originally had made 

 it, and made a group Ovibovinse, for Budorcas and Ovibos, relying 

 chiefly on the form of the metacarpus, the skull and horns, and 

 certain external features. In one curious point not mentioned by 

 him, the resemblance with Ovibos is striking. In the majority of 

 Ruminants, the proximal ends of the nasal bones are closely 

 approximated, forming a pointed, or rounded projection into the 

 frontal area. In Bitdorcas and Ovibos, on the other hand, the 

 proximal end of each nasal is triangular, and a triangular projection 

 of the conjoined frontals fits deeply between them. I have seen a 

 slight approach to this condition in the Gnu and in one specimen of 

 Goral, whilst there are traces of it in some of Rutimeyer's figures 

 of extinct Ruminants, but it is a rare condition. On the other 

 hand, Budorcas diifers markedly from Ovibos and the Gnus and 

 resembles the Goral in the condition of the nasal process of the 

 maxilla. Thus in Ovibos, Cattle, and the Gnu, the latter has a broad 

 articulation with the nasal, whilst in Budorcas and the Goral a 

 wide cleft separates the nasal and maxilla, the latter only just 

 touching the nasal at the distal edge of the nasal-lacrymal 

 articulation. The lacrymal has a definite articulation with the 

 nasal in Budorcas : the two are separated by a wormian bone in all 

 the specimens of Ovibos 1 have seen. In the Goral, the condition 

 is like that in Budorcas, whilst in the Gnu the lacrymal reaches 

 the nasal only by a narrow point, if at all. 



Dr. H. Hammond Smith exhibited a collection of the grits 

 from the gizzards of Game-birds, and made the following 

 I'emarks : — 



The collection of the grits from the gizzards of the Game-birds 

 of England, Scotland, and Wales, that I have got together, is the 

 result of some work I have done for the Grouse Disease Enquiry 

 Committee. Mr. R. H. Rastall, M.A., F.Z.S., of Christ's College, 

 Cambridge, kindly examined, and has reported on, the petrological 

 nature of the stones. 



Naturally I began with the Grouse, but that led me to examine 

 the gizzards of other game-birds, and I have now specimens taken 

 from all the game-birds of Britain, excluding Ireland. 



Ptarmigan. — I have only two specimens of the Ptarmigan, 

 obtained laCe in the season from Ben Mohr in Sutherlandshire ; 



