4 MK. P. L. 8CLATKK OB \ [May 7. 



across the skin of a mammal which came bo near to having actual 

 bright red in it. I think you will agree with me that the general 

 coloration is of the most extraordinary kind, and that if the skin 

 were not there as evidence, it would be thought to be an in- 

 vention of my imagination. If you examine the skin, however, 

 vou will see that my drawing is correct in the tiniest details of 

 the stripes. In my drawing I have made the tail a trifle longer, 

 because from information received I gathered that the tail of 

 the specimen had suffered a little at it« extremity. I am also 

 told that the animal having been roughly skinned, some of the 

 skin on the inner side of the legs and belly is absent. 



" These missing portions are not considerable, and were of a 

 creamy-white colour, except in regard to the stomach and chest, 

 of which the fur is blackish -brown. The missing hoofs were 

 bluish-black." 



Mr. Sclater remarked that there could now be no doubt that 

 Sir Harry Johnston had made a most important discovery. The 

 animal portrayed in the drawing (Plate I.) was, of course, not 

 a Zebra, nor even a member of the family Equidce. AVhat should 

 be its proper position it would only be possible to say when the 

 skin and two skulls, recently obtained by Sir Harry, were received 

 in this country. It was probable, however, that Sir Harry was 

 not far wrong when, in one of his letters, he called it a Hellado- 

 therium, and that it would be found to be allied to that or to one 

 of the other extinct forms of Mammals allied to the Giraffe. 



The leading facts as yet known concerning this new and extra- 

 ordinary discovery had been fully given in an article published in 

 ' The Times ' of this day, from which the following extracts were 

 read : — 



" After sending home incomplete fragments of skin which he 

 obtained in situ from the natives of the Congo forest near the 

 Semliki River (fragments of which were considered to indicate 

 the existence of a new species of Horse, which was tentatively 

 named by Mr. Sclater Eqiius johnstoni), Sir Harry Johnston has 

 at last secured, through the kindness of the Belgian authorities at 

 the frontier post of Fort Mbeni, a complete skin and two skulls 

 of tins animal, which is now shown to be not at all a horse, but a 

 cloven-hoofed ruminant of extraordinary coloration and appear- 

 ance, which seemingly is either of the extinct genus HeUadoiherium, 

 or is some closely-allied creature belonging to that somewhat 

 vaguely-defined group of which the Giraffe is an exemplar. The 

 skin and the skulls which have been forwarded by Sir Harry 

 Johnston to the British Museum were obtained by native soldiers 

 of the Congo Free .State, in the vicinity of Fort Mbeni, and were 

 very kindly presented to .Sir Harry Johnston by Mr. K. Eriksson, 

 a Swedish officer in the service of that State, who has until recently 

 been the Commandant of Fort Mbeni. It is to be hoped that 

 these invaluable specimens will reach London safely. 



" We are informed that the complete skin sent home now shows 

 the animal to be coloured in the most extraordinary manner. The 



