560 Correspondence. 



while the large skull to which Lieut. Phayre alludes belongs to a 

 species at least twice the size, or as large as the Ncemcerhedus sum 

 matrensis, see fig. 2. pi. xii. That there are more species of thie group in 

 continental India, than have as yet been identified or described, we may 

 perhaps infer from the circumstance that Lieut. Phayre had before 

 favoured us with the horns of what we should conceive to be a different 

 species, being much smaller, as well as from there being two heads in the 

 Asiatic Society's collection both referrable to the same group, but one 

 a light reddish yellow colour, and the other blackish brown ; we trust 

 Lieut. Phayre will be able to capture a pair of these interesting animals 

 for the Zoological Society's Gardens. 



Lieut. Phayre mentions that wild dogs or wolves are said by the 

 Mugs to inhabit the Arracan mountains, but strange to say there are 

 no jackals, nor do the natives of Arracan know this animal, which is so 

 familiar to the inhabitants of Bengal. A short time since Lieut. Phayre 

 relates that he ventured up the river Naf, which forms the boundary 

 between Arracan and Bengal, and to his astonishment about the close 

 of the very first evening after his arrival on the boundary he and his 

 party heard the cry of jackals, a sound which he had nearly forgotten 

 during his residence in Arracan, and which the Mugs or Arracanese 

 who accompanied him had never heard before. Lieut. Phayre remarks 

 that the climate of the southern part of the Chittagong district must 

 be the same as that of the northern parts of Arracan, yet the Naf river 

 he considers is the extreme southern limit of the distribution of this 

 animal. Nor is it to be found in any of the Malayan provinces south 

 of Arracan. In addition to the above interesting observations, we are 

 also indebted to Lieut. Phayre for two specimens of fossil crabs, one 

 from the island Chaduba, and the other, which is more perfect, was 

 found on the sand of the sea-shore, twelve or fourteen miles north of the 

 mouth of the Myoo river ; these specimens we hope to describe more 

 fully on a future occasion. What we have now particularly to notice, 

 is the fossil tooth of a monstrous species of shark of the genus Carchari- 

 as, Cuv. which we have figured plate xi. fig. 4. To show the vast dif- 

 ference of size between the fossil and a recent species of the same 

 genus we have also figured 4 a, the corresponding tooth of an individual 

 four and a half feet long, a comparison with which will show what a vast 

 difference of size exists between the fossil and the existing species ; for 

 although the latter attain a great size, yet we can hardly conceive the 

 difference to be so immense as the comparison of the teeth seems to 

 indicate. 



The jaw of a species of Scyllium with which we have been favoured 



