1875.] J. Wood-Mason — On a new stridulating Spider. 197 



The President also announced that the Council had appointed Mr. C. 

 H. Wood a member of the Physical Science and Library Committees. 



Mr. Wood-Mason exhibited specimens of a gigantic spider belonging 

 to the genus My gale, which had the power of emitting a loud stridulating 

 sound, and stated that that interesting discovery had been made by Mr. S. 

 E. Peal of Sibsagai', who, at his request, had drawn up a most graphic ac- 

 count of his observations on the living animal. Mr. Mason had himself 

 undertaken to ascertain the position, and to describe the structure of, the 

 sound-producing apparatus, which he had found to consist of a comb, com- 

 posed of a number of highly elastic and indurated chitinous rods, situated on 

 the inner face of the so-called maxillce, and of a scraper formed by an irre- 

 gular row of sharp spines on the outer surface of the clielicerce. This ap- 

 paratus was equally well-developed in both sexes, as in most coleopterous 

 insects, and was not confined to the males as in the Orthoptera, Homoptera, 

 and the stridulating spiders (Theridiori) observed by Westring, in all of which 

 the exclusive purpose of the sounds emitted seemed to be to charm or call 

 the opposite sex. 



In conclusion, Mr. Mason discussed the probable purposes of the sound 

 emitted, and pointed out how the Mygale stridulans, as he proposed to call 

 the species observed by Mr. Peal, differed from its nearest ally M. Java- 

 nensis, in which no stridulating organs were developed. A full account 

 would shortly be published in the Society's Journal. 



Mr. W. T. Blanford exhibited several skins of Mammalia collected by 

 Mr. L. Mandelli, of Darjiling, and stated that he had asked for the loan of 

 some specimens of Tibetan mammalia to compare with those collected by 

 Dr. Stuliczka in Ladak, and that Mr. Mandelli, with the greatest liberality, 

 had sent the whole of his collection for examination, and presented the 

 duplicates to the Indian Museum. That gentleman had also presented to 

 the Museum a very fine pair of skins of the Tibetan Stag, Cervus affinis. 

 Although a skin of this stag was once procured by Dr. Campbell, nothing 

 so fine as the specimens now exhibited, it was believed, had been previously 

 obtained. 



The other skins brought to the notice of the meeting were merely a 

 very small selection of the whole series sent, which comprised representatives 

 of more than 50 species. Those exhibited consisted of the following species : 

 — Crossopus Himalaicus, Neclogale elegans, Felis Moormcnsis, Prionodon 

 pardicolor, Urva cancrivora, Allitrus falgens, a fine series of squirrels in- 

 cluding Pteromys magnijicus, Scuiropterus caniceps, S. alboniger, S. villo- 

 ' sits, and a species not hitherto identified, Sciwrus macruroides, S. lolcriah, 

 S. lokrioides, and S. Macclellandi, also Lepus paUipes and Lagomys 

 Ourzonice. 



