1900.] MB. P. E. BEDDARD ON NEOBAL^JSTA MARGINATA. 775 



body, and had brownish stripes on the belly and legs. I found the 

 Bambuba natives dwelling alongside the dwarfs called it ' Okapi.' 

 The Belgians state that the head is very long ' et tres effilee.' 

 One man said that the muzzle was particularly ' effile ' — i. e. drawu 

 out. At first they excited me by declaring that there was a skin 

 lying about which I could have ; eventually it was found that the 

 skin had been cut up by their native soldiers to be made into waist- 

 belts and bandoliers. Two of these fragments were found and 

 given to me, and I shall send them home to you by first opportunity. 

 Whatever the animal may be to which these pieces belong, it is not 

 any one of the known Zebras or wild Asses ; the pieces of skin un- 

 fortunately exhibit chiefly the stripes of the belly and legs. These 

 are very irregular with a chestnut border, and they look as though 

 from above they emerged from a uniform dun or dark grey. 



" Unfortunately we did not succeed in seeing a specimen of this 

 animal in the Forest during our short stay, but one of the Congo 

 Free State officials has promised to send me a complete skin and 

 skull." 



Mr. Bouleuger exhibited one of the type specimens of a new 

 species of Protopterus from the Congo, for which he had proposed 

 the name P. dolloi (Ann. Mus. Congo, Zool. i. pi. lvi.). Mr. 

 Boulenger pointed out the remarkable characters of the new 

 Dipnoan, which, whilst agreeing with Protopterus annectens in the 

 essential generic features (limbs, gills), approached Lcpidosiren in 

 the greater elongation of the body (length of head 5 to 6 times in 

 distance from snout to vent), the greater number of ribs (54) and 

 of scales along the body (86-91 to vent), and the smaller eye (its 

 diameter 15-19 times in length of head, 4-6 times in interocular 

 width). # 



Mr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., exhibited a very fine skull and 

 antlers of the Central Asiatic Wapiti, Oervus maral var. songaricus 

 Severtzow, O. eustephanus Blanford, and also skins of the Wapitis 

 of Central Asia and of America. Attention was called to the 

 great development of the 4th tine, which measured in one antler 

 23| inches from the angle with the upper part of the beam, and 

 was very massive and considerably flattened. The antler itself 

 measured 54 iuches from the base along the outside curve. The 

 head had been obtained along with others by Messrs. P. Church 

 and J. V. Phelps. Mr. Blanford was indebted to Mr. Rowland 

 Ward, F.Z.S., for the opportunity of exhibiting the head and skin 

 of this fine Stag. 



Mr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S., Prosector aud Vice -Secretary to the 

 Society, read a paper entitled " Contributions towards a Knowledge 

 of the Osteology of the Pigmy Right Whale (Neobalceiuc marginata)" 

 This paper will be published in full in the Society's ' Transactions." 



