ON PARTURITION IN MARSUPIALS. 337 



The number of departures during the same period, by death 

 and removals, was 125. 



Amongst the additions special attention may be directed 

 to :— 



1 Humboldt's Woolly Monkey (Lagotkrix humboldti), from 

 Manaos, presented by Miss Stella Wickham on October 1st. 



3 Coypus (Myocastor coypus), from S. America, presented by 

 Sir Edmund Loder, Bt., V'.P.Z.S., on October 12th. 



2 White-necked Cranes {Pseud ogeranus leucauchen), bred in 

 Northamptonshire, received in exchange on October 5th. 



The Horns of a Castrated Busbhuch and the Antler-growth 

 in Pere David" s Deer. 



Mr. R. I. Pocock, F.R.S., F.Z.S., Curator of Mammals, ex- 

 hibited : — 



1. The head of a castrated Bushbuck (Tragelaphus) to show 

 the effects of the operation on the horns. The horns differed 

 from those of a normal Bushbuck in being slender, subcylindrical, 

 untwisted, unkeeled, with a backward curvature like that of the 

 horns of a Goral (Ncemorhedus) or Serow (Gapricornis). The 

 Bushbuck had lived several years in the Zoological Gardens at 

 Clifton, and the head was lent for exhibition by Mr. Edward 

 Gerrard. 



2, Three successive pairs of antlers of a fully adult Pere 

 David's Deer {Ela/phurus), showing progressive increase in length. 

 The first pair shed on Feb. 5th, 1916, measured 15 inches; the 

 second pair shed c:i Oct. 22nd, 1916, 25 inches; and the third 

 pair, unshed at the time of the stag's death, 40 inches. 



Parturition in Marsupials and External Characters of 



New-born Young. 



Prof. J. P. Hill, D.Sc, F.R.S., F.Z.S., gave an account of the 

 new-born Marsupial and its mode of parturition. Lantern- slides 

 of the recently born young belonging to species of the genera 

 Perameles, Dasyurus, Didelphys, Trichosurus, and Phascolarctos 

 were exhibited, and their chief external features described. 

 Attention was directed to the fact that, whilst the new-born young 

 in the different genera all exhibit similar adaptive modifications 

 (small size, anterior half of body much in advance of posterior in 

 degree of development, fore-limbs strongly developed and provided 

 with recurved claws, sucking mouth, presence of thick epitrichial 

 layer, covering eye and ear-pinna?, &c), there are recognisable 

 structural and developmental differences between them— e. g., the 

 new-born Dasyurus is characterised by the presence of a curious 

 swelling in the neck-region and by the absence of any indication 



Prog. Zool. Soc.— 1917, No. XXIY. 24 



