Zoological Society. 



59 



score of age. This, I conceive, will be found impossible, as Nos. 7 

 and 20 are specimens similar to No. 1, with the double and less ele- 

 vated ridges decidedly old, and Nos. 4 and 5 are specimens of the 

 single high ridge, likewise decidedly old. 



" These three characters in the skulls coincide with the native 

 statements of there being three distinct species in Borneo, and this 

 third Borneon species may probably be found to be the Simia Abelii 

 or Sumatran Orang. This probability is strengthened by the adult 

 female on her way home : her colour is dark brown, with black face 

 and hands ; and in colour of hair, contour, and expression, she dif- 

 fers from the male Orangs, with the callosities, to a degree that 

 makes me doubt her being the female of the same species. I offer 

 you these remarks for fear of accident ; but should the specimens, 

 living and dead, arrive in safety, they will give a fresh impetus to the 

 inquiry, and on my next return to Borneo, I shall, in all probability, 

 be able to set the question at rest, whether there be two or three spe- 

 cies in that country. Believe me, my dear Sir, with best wishes, to 

 remain, " Yours very truly, 



" J. Brooke. " 



Mr. Charlesworth exhibited to the Meeting a collection of skins 

 of Mammalia and Birds, which he had obtained on the table-land of 

 Mexico, and which he begged to present to the Society. Among 

 the Mammals were adult specimens of the Bassaris astuta, Licht., of 

 which animal a young individual had been procured by Messrs. 

 Thompson and Charlesworth at Real del Monte, and forwarded, un- 

 der the care of the Society's Corresponding Member, Lieut. Smith, 

 as a present to the Menagerie. 



The Bassaris, Mr. Charlesworth observed, is known in Mexico by 

 the name ' Cacomistle' ; it is abundant in the city itself, and indeed 

 Mr. Charlesworth believes it is not to be met with at a distance from 

 the abodes of man. Its habits are nocturnal, and it selects for its 

 dwelling outhouses or uninhabited buildings, whence it sallies forth 

 at night and commits great ravages in hen-roosts and pigeon-houses, 

 and on this account every attempt is made by the Mexicans to exter- 

 minate it. The number of young which the Bassaris produces does 

 not exceed three or four at a birth. 



A skin of the Ascomys Mexicanus, Licht., or ' Tusa,' as it is called 

 by the natives, was also exhibited by Mr. Charlesworth ; and he drew 

 attention to a curious fact in the economy of this Rodent, viz. that 

 the cheek-pouches with which it is provided, and which open exter- 

 nally, are used for the purpose of conveying the soil from its subter- 

 ranean retreats to the surface of the ground, where the mould is 

 deposited in heaps, similar in appearance to those formed by the 

 common Mole. 



The skulls of these two animals were on the table ; and Mr. Water- 

 house observed, that that of Bassaris astuta presented all the charac- 

 ters of the skulls of the Paradoxuri, whilst the skull of Ascomys 

 Mexicanus did not appear to him to offer any characters by which it 

 might be distinguished (excepting as a species) from the crania of 

 different species of Geotnys which he had examined ; and as the same 



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