304 DISCUSSION ON THE FAUNA OF [MaV 5 





along the Zambesi, its tributary tbe Shire, and on the western shore 

 of Lake Nyassa. 



6. In the same volume of ' The Ibis ' (p. 301 ) I gave an account of 

 an excellent collection of rapacious birds made by the late Dr. Dick- 

 inson, principally at Chibisa on the Shire near the upper limit of navi- 

 gation, where he died in 1863. It contained examples of 22 species. 



7. Dr. Giinther's Report on the Reptiles and Fishes collected by 

 Sir J. Kirk in the Zambesi and Nyassa Region, published in our 

 'Proceedings' for 1864 (p. 303). This paper gives a list of 30 

 Reptiles, 11 Batrachians, and 30 Fishes, of which examples were 

 obtained by Sir John Kirk. The paper is prefaced by some valu- 

 able remarks by the collector. A new genus of Cyprinoids from 

 Lake Nyassa is characterized as Pelotrophus. 



8. Dr. H. Dohrn's List of the Land and Freshwater Shells of the 

 Zambesi and Lake Nyassa collected by Sir John Kirk, published in 

 the Society's ' Proceedings ' for 1865 (p. 231). 



Twenty-four species are noticed in this list by Dr. Dohrn, of 

 which 7 are described as new. 



9. The collection submitted by Sir John Kirk to Dr. Dohrn did 

 not include the Unionidce. The specimens of this group were sent 

 to Mr. Isaac Lea of Philadelphia, a well-known specialist on this 

 group of MoUusks. Lea referred Sir John Kirk's specimens to six 

 species, all of which he described as new in a paper read before the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in April 1864 \ 



10. In Dr. Giinther's "Contribution to the Knowledge of Snakes of 

 Tropical Africa," published in the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History' for 1888 (ser. 6, vol. i. p. 322), several species are 

 described fiom the Nyassa district, but the names of the collectors 

 are not recorded. The paper concludes with a list of 46 species of 

 Snakes known to inhabit the Central Lake district of Tropical 

 Africa. 



11. Mr. Edgar Smith's paper on the Shells of Lake Nyassa, 

 published in our ' Proceedings' for 1887 (p. 712). 



This was based principally upon specimens collected by Mr. F. A. 

 Simons. 



12. Mr. R. Crawshay's valuable notes on the Antelopes of 

 Nyassa-land, which was read at our meeting on the 2nd of December 

 last '\ 



Mr. Crawshay's list of the Antelopes of Nyassa-land contains 12 

 species, but others no doubt, particularly among the smaller forms, 

 remain to be added to it. 



This is positively the only information yet published on the 

 Mammals of the Nyassa Basin. 



These are the principal publications relating to the fauna of 

 Nyassa-land that lam acquainted with. There are no doubt many 

 others which will be mentioned by the various naturalists who will 

 kindly contribute towards our information on this subject on the 

 present occasion. As I said before, Nyassa-land, so far as we at 



' See Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1864, p. 108. 

 2 See P. Z. S. 1890, p. 648. 



