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Proceedings of the Asiatic Society, 



(Thursday Evening, Mth November ^ 1841.^ 



The Hon'ble Sir E. Ryan, President, in the Chair. 



The Reverend Wm. Winchester, Chaplain of Berhampore, was proposed a Mem- 

 ber by F. Beaufort, Esq, seconded by the Secretary, 



Library and Museum. 



Read the following Reports submitted by the Curator and Librarian.. 

 Th€ Curator's Report. 



Sir, — My report for the month of October will be found to relate chiefly to a valu- 

 able donation of Quadruped and Bird skins, procured in the vicinity of Maulmain, 

 which have been presented to the Society hy Government, and to another collection 

 of Bird skins from the Himalaya, for which we are indebted to the liberality of Dr. 

 Spry, of the Bengal Medical Service. 



The first of these collections contains six skins of Mammalia, pertaining to as many 

 species, and 58 of Birds, which are referrible to 42 species. I have endeavoured to de- 

 termine the whole series, and shall proceed to notice them in detail, adding such re- 

 marks as I conceive may be useful to students of Zoology in this country. 



The Mammalia consist of two Carnivora and four Rodentia, which are as follow: — 



1. Urva cancrivorat Hodgson y (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1837, 

 p. 562j) or, more recently, Mesohema cancrivora, ihid. (Calcutta Journal of Natural 

 History, No. 6, p. 214.) — The specimen has been mounted with considerable difficulty, 

 from the unfortunately decayed condition of the skin, though the hair is uninjured, and 

 its appearance now is fully as good as that of Museum specimens in general. I have also 

 had its skull (which is quite perfect) taken out and cleaned. This, as noticed by Mr. 

 Hodgson, is remarkable for having incomplete bony orbits, which is very rarely the 

 case in the highly natural sub-family to which the animal strictly appertains, namely, 

 the Viverridce Herpestidincs. I do not myself perceive any peculiar affinity which it 

 is said to bear to the Guline Mustelidce. 



2. Artictis Binturong, Temminck ; Ictides Ater, Valenciennes; and a juvenile 

 brown variety, probably the ordinary dress of the young animal, /. albifrons, F. Cuvi- 

 er. — The latter has usually been regarded as the permanent female colouring of the 

 species, but a very old and much injured specimen of the female Binturong in 

 our Museum, which now that the present specimen has been received, I have had 

 the skull and limb-bones taken from, though sufficient to illustrate the fact here 

 stated is retained of its skin, is equally black with the mature male. The Maulmain 

 specimen is little more than half-grown, and retains its deciduary canines : its colour is 

 black, with a grizzled whitish visage, occasioned by each hair having a subtermi- 

 nal yellowish-white annnlation, which is likewise the case, more sparingly, on the 

 limbs ; while the belly and basal part of the tail underneath are of a dull reddish 

 white, more or less of which, I believe, is permanent; ears white-edged, but the 

 lengthened hair on their posterior surface black. This specimen was also in very bad 

 condition, being much torn and decayed, but the hair is nearly perfect. Its skull has 



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