1898.] F. Finn— On Anser erythropns. 7 



vendor, who was well aware of the value of the birds, said that these 

 were the first wliich had been sent to Calcatta. 



All these birds ( they appear to be a male and two females) are adult 

 and in good condition, the plumage being perfect except the primary 

 quills, which have been clipped. This is unfortunate, as it obscures the 

 most notable structural feature of the species, which, although the 

 smallest member of the genus Anser, as commonly restricted, has 

 proportionally the longest wings. 



The small size of these birds, however, and the extension of the white 

 patch on the forehead up to the level of a line drawn between the eyes, 

 will at once distinguish them from the White-fronted Goose (Anser 

 albifrons) another rare Indian goose, and the only one with which the 

 present species could possibly be confounded. 



In the British Museum Catalogue of Birds, Vol, XXVII, in which the 

 Ducks, &c., are treated by Count Salvadori, no difference in the colour of 

 the *'soft parts" between the Dwarf Goose and the White-fronted is 

 mentioned. In the bird at present before us, however, it will be noticed 

 that the bill is of a beautiful rose-pink, not orange, as is stated to be the 

 case with the larger species ; and the eyelids, of the colour of which 

 nothing is said in the work referred to, are lemon-yellow. In its dark 

 eyes and orange feet this bird agrees with the description of its larger 

 relative. 



The other two birds obtained have the soft parts similar, and as they 

 are, as above stated, adult, this might be taken as the typical coloura- 

 tion for the species, were it not that the colour of the soft parts is known 

 to be sometimes variable in geese of this genus. 



The identity of the present specimen having been established, it will 

 now rejoin its companions at the Zoological Gardens, and though the 

 species has in summer a high northern range, it is to be hoped that these 

 birds will thrive, since Bar-headed Geese (Anser indious) which Mr. 

 Hume found did not stand the hot weather very well in his experience, 

 have nevertheless lived for years in the Alipore Collection in the same 

 house in which the present birds will now replace them. 



8. Contributions from the Chemical Laboratory, Presidency College, 

 Calcutta, On Double Bisulphate of Copper and Sodium, — By Candra. 

 Bhusan Bhaduri, B.A., and Jtoti Bhusan Bhaduri, M.A., Prem Cand, 

 Boy Cand Scholar, Communicated by Alex. Pedler, F.R.S. 



Abstract. 



The authors in this paper describe principally the yellow salt 

 obtained by the action of sodium thiosulpate on copper sulphate or 

 acetate, and find that its formula is TCu^SgOg 5Na2S203 BHgO and not 



