SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 438 



Lophopsittacus, Aphanapteryx, and other forms already known to have 

 inhabited Mauritius. Besides these there were bones of other birds, the 

 existence of which had not been suspected, and among them of the following, 

 now described as new : — Stritc (?) sauzieri, Astur alphonsi, Butorides mauri- 

 tianus, Plotus nanus, Sarcidiornis mauritianus, and Anas theodori, the whole 

 adding materially to the knowledge of the original fauna of Mauritius. 



Mr. Oldfield Thomas gave an account of a collection of Mammals from 

 Nyassa-land, transmitted by Mr. H. H. Johnston, under whose directions 

 they had been obtained by Mr. Alexander Whyte. 



Dr. Gunther read a paper descriptive of a collection of Reptiles and 

 Batrachians from Nyassa-land, likewise transmitted by Mr. Johnston, and 

 containing examples of several remarkable new species, amongst which 

 were three new Chameleons, proposed to be called Chameleon isabellinus, 

 Rampholeon platyceps, and R. brachyurus. 



Mr. R. Lydekker read a memoir on some Zeuglodont and other Cetacean 

 remains from the Tertiaries of the Caucasus. 



Mr. Martin Jacoby read the descriptions of some new genera and new 

 species of Phytophagous Coleoptera from Madagascar. 



Nov. 15. — Dr. A. Gunther, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. 



The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to 

 the Society's Menagerie during the month of October, 1892, and called 

 special attention to a very fine male Ostrich, Struthio camelus, presented 

 by Her Majesty the Queen, and to a specimen of what appeared to be a 

 new and undescribed Monkey of the genus Cercopithecus, obtained by 

 Dr. Moloney at Chindi, on the Lower Zambesi, for which the name C. stairsi 

 was proposed. Attention was also called to the receipt of a series of 

 specimens of Mammals, Birds, and Reptiles, brought by Mr. Frank Finn, 

 on his recent return from a zoological expedition to Zanzibar, and received 

 from several correspondents of the Society at Zanzibar and Mombasa. 



The Secretary exhibited (on behalf of Mr. T. Ground) a specimen of the 

 Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa acuminata, killed in Norfolk. 



Mr. G. A. Boulenger read a paper describing the remains of an extinct 

 gigantic Tortoise from Madagascar, Testudo grandidieri, Vaill., based on 

 specimens obtained in caves in South-west Madagascar by Mr. Last, and 

 transmitted to the British Museum. The species was stated to be most 

 nearly allied to Teatudo gigantea of the Aldabra Islands. 



Mr. W. Bateson and Mr. H. H. Brindley read a paper giving the 

 statistical results of measurements of the horns of certain beetles and of the 

 forcipes of the male Earwig. It appeared that in some of these cases 

 the males form two groups, "high" and "low"; the moderately high 

 and the moderately low being more frequent than the mean form in the 

 same locality. It was pointed out that this result was not consistent with 

 the hypothesis of fortuitous variation about one mean form. 



ZOOLOGIST. — DECEMBER, 1892 2 O 



