596 journal or uiii: late db. em in PASHA.. [Nov. 6, 



work ; I can only judge approximately by tbe old Tortoise at 

 Mauritius, which is twice as big as these and is over 100 years old. 

 " The dimensions of these Tortoises are as follows : — 



" Male : — Length, over curve of back, 42 inches: 

 Height 19 inches. 



Plastron, 26| inches long, 22 inches wide. 

 u Female: — Length, over curve of back, 40^ inches. 

 Height 17 inches. 

 Plastron, 26 inches long, 19 inches wide." 



The registered additions to the Society's Menagerie during the 

 month of August were 61 ; of these, 37 were acquired by presen- 

 tation, 4 by purchase, 5 by birth, and 15 were received on deposit. 

 The number of departures during the same period, by death and 

 removals, was 87. 



The registered additions to the Society's Menagerie during the 

 month of September were 131 ; of these. 74 were acquired by presen- 

 tation, 6 by purchase, 7 by exchange, 7 were bred in the Gardens, 

 and 37 were received on deposit. The number of departures during 

 the same period, by death and removals, was 86. 



The President stated that he had just received a letter addressed 

 to him by the late Dr. Emin Pasha, C.M.Z.S., without date, but 

 apparently written very shortly before his assassination by the 

 Arabs on the Upper Congo in the autumn of 1892. The letter 

 had been brought from the Congo by M. Dhanis, of the Congo Free 

 State Service, and transmitted to the President by M. Baerts, 

 " Chef de Cabinet " of the Congo Free State at Brussels. It was 

 as follows : — 



" The notes hereby joined will prove you that I never forgot 

 how kindly you acted in working out the collections previously 

 sent by me to England. Twice I have tried to forward you 

 specimens I collected, and twice 1 have been disappointed by the 

 misdirection of my boxes by those entrusted with them. 



*' The collections now made, and of which the joined notes give 

 some idea, are small, but they hail from the remotest corners of 

 the Contineut never before visited by a naturalist, and scarcely to 

 be visited again for years to come. Such is their only merit ; if 

 there are novelties amongst them I dare not to decide. Certainly 

 they are a contribution to the knowledge of species as well as of 

 their geographical range, and if they are welcome to you my 

 amplest wishes are fulfilled. 



" As for some weeks I shall have to stay here, and the Arabs 

 very kindly promise to make their people collect for me, I hope 

 to be able to obtain many interesting objects, amongst which, in 

 first line, I shall try for a AVhite Chimpanzee. 



" The specimens collected for you shall be forwarded with first 

 opportunity by way of Stanley Falls \ where letters for me should 

 be addressed, and where you may kindly send whatever you can 



1 These specimens have unfortunately not been rpnovered. 



