24 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
again. Although only about three years old, 
so far as can be judged, she is a particularly 
nice-looking animal, and interesting for one or 
two reasons. In certain lights, faint rosette-like 
spots can be seen everywhere on the head and 
back and sides, but on the belly, legs both 
outside and inside, and on the posterior half 
of the tail, the pattern of chocolate brown spots 
is very distinct. 
That an interesting and valuable addition to the 
collection in the Zoological Park in Edinburgh, 
which has just been received, is a young jaguar, 
which has been sent by Mr. Douglas G. W. 
Aimers from Brazil. The jaguar is the largest 
of the cat family inhabiting the New World, 
and though in colour and markings it greatly 
resembles the Old World leopard, it exceeds 
the latter considerably in size. The jaguar is 
on view in the Acclimatisation House, where 
there are also specimens of the puma and the 
ocelot, the two other New World cats next ap- 
proaching it in size. 
That Longtown (Cumberland) Advisory Commit- 
tee have recommended for exemption Richard 
Bell, aged 18-, soo of William Bell, wild duck 
rearer for Sir Richard Graham, of Netherby, 
on the ground that the father's nine other sons 
voluntarily enlisted on the outbreak of the war. 
Truly a remarkable patriotic family. What an 
example to those living in the East End of 
London ! 
That Prince Lennart of Sweden has received a 
lion cub, brought home by his father, Prince 
Wilhelm, from his last big-game shooting ex- 
pedition. 
That the care expended on the well-being of the 
animals, in modern zoological gardens is well 
illustrated in the fourty-fourth annual report of 
the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, which 
we have just received. As in the Gardens of the 
Zoological Society of London, the most search- 
ing post-mortem examination is instituted in 
the case of every death, and as a result dis- 
coveries are made the importance of which is 
not to be measured by their immediate value 
to the society concerned. In the present report 
the most interesting items are a mysterious 
epizootic among the waterfowl, and of an arach- 
noid parasite in the lungs of monkeys. The 
lesions they produce simulate, and may be mis- 
taken for, tubercles. But their presence does 
not seem sriously to affect the host. The origi- 
nal habitat and mode of transmission are un- 
known, but no fewer than four different species 
have been described, and have been taken from 
monkeys both in India and Africa, as well as 
from captive specimens. 
That in the "Australian Zoologist" (vol. i., part 
3) Dr. A. S. Le Souef, the director of the Zoo- 
logical Gardens, Sydney, records some inter- 
esting colour variations of opossums of the 
genus Trichosurus. The general coloration of 
the common opossum (Trichosurus vulpecula) 
is grey above, white below. The variants on 
this are rufous, black, and fawn, but it seems 
difficult to associate such variations with en- 
vironmental conditions. Thus "brown" col- 
oured individuals are most common in Tas- 
mania, and appear to be confined to the moist, 
heavily timbered districts; but on the mainland 
brown-coloured specimens are very common, 
"particularly in the drier districts." The des- 
cendants of the Tasmanian opossum turned out 
at Lyttelton, New Zealand, some five and twenty 
years ago already show variation from the 
typical form, since the animals have become 
darker and the fur longer and less dense. The 
author suggests that Mr. Oldfield Thomas, of 
the British Museum, was in error when he des- 
cribed the mountain opossum (T. caninus) as 
brown in colour- This hue appears only in the 
black opossum after it has been partially depig- 
mented by immersion in spirits. The egistence 
of the black opossum is here recognised for the 
first time, being designated a distinct subspecies 
(T. caninus nigrans). Thi swell-marked sub- 
species "is found in the heavy costal scrubs in 
north-eastern New South Wales and southern 
Queensland." 
That great credit is due to Keeper Sherwin at 
the Small Bird House, Zoological Gardens, 
Regents Park, for his attention to the below- 
mentioned youngsters at present under his 
charge : — 
4 baby Rufous Tinamous (foster mother a 
white Orpington). 
12 young Partridges (foster mother a white 
Silky). 
2 Andean Goslings (foster mother a Light 
Sussex). 
one of the most interesting sights that I have 
ever seen at the Repents Park Zoo. 
That Captain Persy has arrived at Marseilles with 
a splendid collection of animals for tiie Jardin 
des Plantes, Paris. They came from Abys- 
sinia, and include amongst many specimens, 2 
Giraffes, 1 young Elephant, 2 Rhinocerus, 4 
Lions, Ostriches and Snakes. 
Printed by W. J. Hasted & Son, (T.U.), 306, Mile End Road, London, E. 
