SELBORNE SOCIETY NOTICES 
39 
New Members. — John Carey, Esq., Stirling; Lt.-Col. A. Yaldwyn, Mon- 
treux ; J. M. Marshall, Esq., and Mrs. Marshall, Herne Hill ; C. Beaumont, 
Esq., Wilmslow ; F. S. Clayton, Esq., Surbiton ; Miss Evelyn M. Linder, 
Buckhurst Hill ; Mrs. Talbot, Barmouth ; Miss Miihlberg and Miss Hilda Miihl- 
berg, Herne Hill ; Mrs. M. L. Cooke Yarborough, sen., Doncaster ; Mrs. H. 
Jealous, Hampstead ; Sidney Russ, Esq., St John’s Wood ; Maurice Randall, 
Esq., Compayne Gardens ; G. P. Norton, Esq., Croydon ; Miss Hart Davis, 
Reading; David Ross, Esq., Kensal Rise. 
Donations and Subscriptions. — The Council beg to acknowledge the 
following Donation : C. Surge}', Esq., 16s. ; and the following Subscriptions over 
5s.:Thos. Layton, Esq., ios. ; the Comtesse A. Jenison, ios. ; F. S. Clayton, Esq., 
ios. 6d. ; H. Chipperlield, Esq., ios. ; W. H. Warner, Esq., 2ls. ; J. S. Budgett, 
Esq., 2 is. ; Mrs. Hubbard, ios. ; Miss A. Walker, ios. ; John W. Powell, Esq., 
ios. ; A. T. Hall, Esq., ios. ; Claude Leatham, Esq., ios. ; Miss Linder, 6s. ; 
Mrs. Turle, ios. ; Miss E. Nicholl, 20s. ; C. W. Ware, Esq., ios. ; Hon. Walter 
Rothschild, 2is. ; Miss Lomer, £2 ; Mrs. Lorner, 20s. ; W. J. Carver, Esq., 
20s. ; W. H. Maw, Esq., ios. ; Cosmo Blore, Esq., ios. ; Rev. F. M. Millard, 
10s. ; Miss M. W. Rankin, 7s. 6d. ; Mrs. Silkenstadt, ios. ; Mrs. Brightwen, 
£$; Mrs. Robinson, ios. 6d. ; Miss Cheetham, ios. ; Mrs. Price, 10-.; Mrs. 
Picton Turbeville, ios.; Geo. P. Craven, Esq., ios.; Miss E. Shadwell, 10s. ; 
Mrs. Hogg, 20s. ; Miss E. B. Brand, ios. ; Miss J. Brand, ios. ; W. E. Milne- 
Kedhead, Esq., 7s. 6d. ; Miss Brodrick, ios. ; Mrs. W. Greenwood, 21s. ; Lady 
Simeon, ios. ; W. Whitwell, Esq., 21s. ; Richardson Evans, Esq., ios. ; Peter 
Ilastie, Esq., IOS. 
SELBORNE SATURDAY AFTERNOONS. 
December 13. — Thanks to the kindness of Dr. A. Smith Woodward, Keeper 
of the Geological Department, the Selbornians spent an interesting afternoon in 
the well arranged Palaeontological Galleties of the Natural History Museum. 
Dr. Smith Woodward had chosen for his subject the Fossil Mammals of South 
America, and he dealt especially with the giant sloths ( Megatherium americanuvi, 
Mylodon robuslus) and armadilloes (Glyp/odon reCiculatus, &c. ) belonging to the 
Edetilala. The skeletons of their present-day representatives were also referred 
to and compared with these extinct fossil remains and plaster casts. The 
valuable exhibit lent by Dr. Moreno, Director of the Museum of La Plata, was 
next demonstrated. The most interesting objects in this case were portions of 
the actual skin of a giant ground sloth ( Grypolherium lislai). The outer surface 
is covered with hair, but on the inner surface numerous small bones are embedded 
in the skin itself. The best specimen of skin had been found in a cavern in 
Consuelo Cove, Last Hope Inlet, Patagonia, with the remains of the sloth and 
of other mammals, including man. This curious cavern had apparently been 
used to keep the sloth in captivity, perhaps as an object of veneration, a chamber 
having been formed by man by means of barriers of stone, with a small opening 
to serve as an entrance. The Natural History Museum had recently acquired 
a piece of the skin of this animal, as also various bones, from the same cavern. 
At the time of the formation of the Isthmus of Panama the sloths had found their 
way into North America, their fossil remains having been found there. On the 
other hand, hoofed animals had migrated into the South American continent by 
the same means. Dr. Woodward also gave details of Toxodon platmsis, belong- 
ing to the Ungu/ala. There was some evidence pointing in the direction of the 
existence of a former Antarctic continent connecting the southern point of South 
America, South Africa and Australia. This hypothesis also received support 
from the recent discovery by Dr. Moreno of the remains of a fossil land tortoise, 
Miolania morenoi, in Patagonia, exhibiting features in common, especially as 
regards the structure of the skull, with Miolania oweni of the Condamine river, 
Queensland, and also with Miolania platyceps of Lord Howe Island in the South 
Pacific. 
