1905.] DR. WALTER KIDD OX PAPILLARY RIDGES IN MAMMALS. 297 



of Rhinoceros [Rhinoceros bicornis), and made the following 

 remarks : — 



"The White Waterbuck was shot in July 1904 on the right 

 bank of the Guaso jSTyiro river, about 20 miles west of the Lorian 

 Swamp, British East Africa, lat. 1° N., alt. above sea 1000 feet. 

 A white doe was alone with the buck. The ordinary Waterbuck 

 seen there were all examples of Kohus ellipsiprymnns. The eyes 

 of this buck were of the normal colour-, not pink. 



" Of the two Rhinoceroses, one was a female and carried two 

 normal and two rudimentary horns. She was shot in August 

 1904, in dense covert, west of the Jambeni Mountains north-east 

 of Mount Kenia, at an elevation of 4150 feet above the sea. It 

 was not seen till after death wdiat an iutei-esting animal she was. 

 One of the rudimentary horns was between the ears and the other 

 about 4 inches further back. 



" The other individual was a male, and was shot in September 

 1904 north of Abei'dare range, British East Africa ; height above 

 sea 9600 feet. The anterior horn showed abnormal growth due 

 either to an old injury or excessi^•e wearing away of the outei- 

 surface from the tij) downwards." 



The Hon. Walter Rothschild, F.Z.S., exhibited specimens of a 

 very rare and interesting Marsupial, hitherto unique, in the Paris 

 Museum, viz. Dactylopsila 2Kdp>ator Milne-Edw., which differed 

 from Z>. trivirgata in possessing an extremely thin, prolonged, 

 second finger. 



Mr. Rothschild also exhibited two tusks wdiich had been 

 obtained by Bai-on Maurice de Rothschild during his recent 

 expedition to Abyssinia. They were so unlike the normal tusks 

 of any known animal, that Mr. Rothschild was of opinion that 

 they might belong to some new form. 



Mr. A. S. Hirst, F.Z.S., exhibited microscopic preparations of 

 a new Hsemosporidian from the blood of an African Stork {Lepto- 

 ptihcs anfjineniferus). He pointed out that this parasite belonged 

 to the genus II alter idium, but differed from H. danilewskyi in its 

 greater size (stade moyen 7-10 /^t), and also in its method of 

 sporulation, in which the merozoites were more numerous, 

 smaller, and arranged in a ball-like I'ounded mass. The name 

 Hcdteridmm cramenium, was proposed for the new species. 



Dr. Walter Kidd, F.Z.S., I'ead a paper, illustrated by lantern- 

 slides, " On the Papillary Ridges in Mammals, chiefly Primates." 

 The ari"angements of the ridges on the hand and foot of 24 

 species were shown and described, and their functions discussed. 

 Arguments were brought forward to show that their primary 

 function was to increase the delicacy of the sense of touch. 



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