32 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
GENERAL NOTES. 
THAT I thank the various writers for their com- 
plimentary letters on "My Trip to New York." 
THAT I have just received a letter from The Nor- 
thern Cape stating Ice Bears are very scarce 
this season, but some few foxes have been 
caught. The prices will doubtless amuse cer- 
tain amateurs. I was fortunate in disposing of 
my last consignment to Belle Vue, Manchester. 
The so-called Amateur Fox Fanciers of Great 
Britain do not understand, neither have they 
the enterprise to open out Fox Farming. They 
should visit Newfoundland where rapid fortunes 
are being made in the fox breeding and skin 
industry. 
10 Blue Foxes, each Kr. 250=^15 . 10'. 
10' White Foxes, each Kr. 150'= £9 . 10 . 
5 Silver Foxes, each Kr. 1,500' = £91 .0.0 
These are the figures sent me from The North 
Cape. 
THAT in a recent number of the "Proceedings of 
the U.S. National Museum" (vol. 53, pp. 435- 
443), published in June last, Mr. Oliver P. Hay 
has described, with figures, the fossil skull of a 
horse from the Pleistocene of- Yukon territory. 
It was found by Mr. John M. Morrison while 
mining- in the Klondyke region on Gold Run 
Creek, about thirty miles south-east of Dawson, 
and was unearthed at a depth of 32ift. below the 
surface. After penetrating 18ft. to 20ft. of 
"muck," the miner reached 12ft. or fine gravel, 
then 4ft. to 6ft. of coarse gravel, which carries 
gold, and immediately below this on the bedrock 
lay the skull. The deposit in which it was buried 
was frozen, and may have been in this condition, 
says Mr. Hay, for thousands of years. 
The skull, which is that of a mare about 
12l years old, is described as practically com- 
plete, having the lower jaw with it, which is un- 
usual, but the extreme tips of the nasals are 
broken off, most of the vomer and terminal bones 
are gone, and a little bone here and there is 
missing. It is regarded as belonging to a small 
and broad-skulled race, with unusually broad 
teeth, their enamel little plicated, and with un- 
usually long protocones. On comparison with 
two adult skulls of the domestic horse it was 
found that the brain case was much larger and 
the angle of the lower jaw smaller. These and 
other comparative details are discussed at some 
length by Mr. Hay, and three excellent plates 
are given on a sufficiently large scale showing 
the skull with lower jaw in profile, the upper 
and under surfaces, and the teeth in both jaws. 
This ancient Yukon horse has been named by 
its describer Equus lambei in honour of Mr. 
Lawrence M. Lambe, the eminent palaeontolo- 
gist of the Geological Survey of Canada. 
THAT a lady entomologist has been placed in 
charge of the beautiful Insect House at Regent's 
Park, which was presented sometime ago to the 
authorities by Sir James Caird, of Dundee. 
Already considerable improvements have 
been effected in what was at one time one of 
the least attractive departments of the gardens, 
and at the moment some really remarkable ex- 
hibits are one view. 
The most interesting, perhaps, are the two 
Golden Tortoise beetles from India, which re- 
semble nothing so much as a pair of sleeve-links 
fashioned from that metal, and which, owing 
to their refulgent exterior, are doubtless used 
in that country for personal adornment, in just 
the same way as the fireflies from time im- 
memorial. A large vivarium has also been set 
apart for the 'display of the life history of the 
silkworm, for the special benefit, of course, of 
the members of the rising generation ! 
THAT a collection of snakes has just been re- 
ceived by the Zoological Society, Regent's 
Park. It includes three Anacondas (Eunectes 
murinus), the thick-necked boa (Epicrates cen- 
chris), a Cooke's tree boa (Corallus cookii) from 
Trinidad, an Antillean boa (Boa diviniloqua) 
from Dominica, two black cribos (Oxyrhopus 
clalia), three rat-tailed snakes (Lachesis lanceo- 
latus) from Trinidad, and a terrific rattlesnake 
(Crotalus terrificus) from British Guiana, de- 
posited on June 21. 
THAT one of the most remarkable incidents of 
the severest thunderstorm which raged over part 
of London in June last was the electrocuting of 
a bear in the Zoological Gardens. 
The bear was gripping the bars of its cage 
when a flash of lightning electrified the bars and 
killed the bear. 
THAT there have been a few arrivals and I am 
carrying on business as usual. 
Printed by W. J. Hasted & Son (T.U.), 306, Mile End Road, E 1., and Published by J. D. Hamlyn, 221, St. George's 
Street, London Docks, E 3. 
