PEOCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
Vol. II. FEBRUARY, 1867. No. 2 
GENERAL MEETING 
Thursday, February /th, 1867— Mr. W. Sanders, F.R.S., F.G.S., 
President, in the chair. 
The Hon. Secretary announced the donation to the Society's Library 
of a Catalogue of British Mollusca, compiled from the first three volumes 
of Mr. Gwyn Jeffries' Conchology, by Mr. H. K. Jordan, F.G.S., presented 
by the compiler. 
Mr. Thomas Graham Ponton then read a paper on some of the less 
known British Mammalia. The animals which formed the subject of this 
communication, which was illustrated by a number of specimens from the 
Museum of the Institution, and by several drawings, were included in four 
orders and seven families, viz. : — Felidce, Mustelidce, Vesper tilionidce s 
RMndophidce, JSrinacidce, Muridcs, and Arvicolidce, numbering seventeen 
genera in all. 
Felid^e. Fells Cat us, the wild cat, at onetime so common, was almost 
extinct. In 1864 a specimen had been captured in Inverness-shire. The 
majority of the so-called wild cats were either domestic cats run wild, or 
their descendants. Characteristics ; head triangular and strongly pro- 
nounced; ears large, triangular, and pointed; fur soft, long, and thick; 
colour, on the face greyish yellow, black-spotted on the muzzle, head grey, 
rest of the body grey, with darker stripes, and a dark line down the back, 
tail ringed with grey and black, feet and inside of the legs yellowish. 
MusTELiDiE. Lutra vulgaris, the otter, was still to be found frequenting 
retired trout streams and salmon rivers. Its natural food was fish, for the 
capture of which, its narrow cylindrical body, short fin-like legs, oar-sliaped 
feet, and rudder-like tail, were beautifully adapted. In frosty weather it 
occasionally carried off small birds or animals from farm-yards. Head 
broad and flat, neck thick, eyes and ears small, feet webbed, fur short and 
thick, dark brown, with four white spots on the face. 
