340 REV. G. H. R. FISK ON THE DESTRUCTION OF SNAKES. [Apr. 5, 



Chondrodactylus weiri, sp. nov. 



Distinguished from its ally in the following points : — Tubercles 

 on the supraorbital edge scarcely enlarged, separated from those on 

 the other side by three series of tubercles in the middle ; the width 

 of the interorbital space equals quite one half of the vertical diameter 

 of the orbit. Enlarged dorsal tubercles larger, more strongly keeled, 

 subtrihedral. Ventral scales much larger ; 6 or 7, on the middle of 

 the belly, correspond to the horizontal diameter of the eye (instead 

 of 11 or 12 iu C. angulifer). Coloration very similar to that of the 

 adult C. angulifer, i. e. with a blackish crescentic baud, concavity 

 forwards, extending from shoulder to shoulder, and pairs of round 

 whitish spots on the back. The unique specimen measures 

 95 millim., in which the tail enters for 40. 



April 5, 1887. 

 Prof. W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, ia the Chair. 



The Secretary read the following report on the additions to the 

 Society's Menagerie during the month of March 1887: — 



The total number of registered additions to the Society's Mena- 

 gerie during the month of March was 7&. Of these 22 were by 

 birth, 43 by presentation, 6 by purchase, 1 by exchange, and 4 were 

 received on deposit. The total number of departures during the 

 same period, by death and removals, was 94. 



The most noticeable additions during the month were : — 



1. Two Long-tailed Grass-Finches {Poephila acuticauda), from 

 Derby, King Sound, N.W. Australia, presented to the Collection by 

 Mr. Walter Burton, F.Z.S., March 18. These are the first examples 

 of this elegant little Grass-Finch which have been received by the 

 Society. 



2. A Fisk's Snake (Lamprop/iis^skii) and a Narrow-headed Toad 

 (Bufo angusticeps), from South Africa, presented to the Society by 

 the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, and received 24th March. Both of these are 

 new to the Society's Collection, and Fisk's Snake, being new to 

 science, has been named by Mr. Boulenger after its donor. 



I also wish to call attention to the fact that Sir Walter Buller 

 has presented to the Society the female Huia-bird {Heteralocha 

 gouldi) which he deposited in the Society's Gardens on the 22nd 

 April last year, and that he hopes to be able to obtain for us a 

 companion of the male sex. The female bird in the Gardens is 

 now in good health and condition. 



The following extracts were read from a letter addressed to the 

 Secretary by the Rev. Geo. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S., dated Capetown, 

 March 9, 1887:— 

 "The annexed anecdote of a Mouse' and a Ringhals Snake {Sepedon 



^ [In a subsequent letter Mr. Fisk states that the Mouse was believed to be a 

 specimen of Dendromi/s melanotis. — P. L. S.] 



