Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/213

Rh and Arrows of the Samoan Islanders." The attention of the author had been called to this subject by the death of the late Commander Goodenough, R.N., said to have been caused by one of these weapons. His chief information has been derived from the son of a native chief. These arrows, it is said, are pointed with human bones, and in some instances with the spines of a large species of Echinus. The gummy product of several trees is used, and, besides being dipped in this, there is added a substance from wasp's nests and putrid liquid of the sea-cucumber (Holothuria). A kind of kiln is then prepared where the arrows are smoked, afterwards inserted into the dried flower of a species of Zacca, to prevent humidity, and tied up in bundles ready for use. Mr. Powell then noted the effects of the poison on the human system and the reputed means of cure.

Dr. A. Günther gave a "Notice of two large Extinct Lizards formerly inhabiting the Mascarene Islands." The fragmentary materials yielding evidence of these creatures had partly been obtained by Mr. Edward Newton, already well known for his acquaintance with the extinct fauna of the Mascarenes, and partly by Mr. H.H. Slater, one of the naturalists accompanying the Transit of Venus Expedition. The bones of one lizard must have been that of an animal above a foot long, not including the tail. As far as can be made out its nearest congeners were the Zonuridæ and Scineidæ, but nevertheless so far characteristically different as to be considered worthy of generic distinction, the name Didosaurus mauritianus being given it. The remains of another form from Rodriguez point to its being closely allied to the Geckos, although larger than G. verus: the name G. Newtonii has been assigned to it.

The second part of "Contributions to the Ornithology of New Guinea," by Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, was, in his absence, read by Mr. Howard Saunders. This paper contained an account of a collection of birds formed by Dr. James, a young and enthusiastic naturalist who was unfortunately murdered by the natives during an expedition to one of the islands in Hall's Sound, whither he had gone to collect Birds of Paradise. He collected in Yule Island and on the opposite coast of South-Eastern New Guinea. The collection contains fifty-three species, of which three appear to be new to science. The great bulk of the birds obtained were well-known Australian or Aru Island forms; and thus it becomes evident that the south-eastern corner of New Guinea cannot compare with the northern portion of the island as regards the species exclusively indigenous to the country. The new species are Melidora collaris, Thomygama Jamesii, and a long-tailed Kingfisher (Tanysiptera microrhyncha). The most interesting addition, however, is that of Machaeramphus alcinus, a night-flying black Kite, at present only known from the peninsula of Malacca and Southern Tenasserim, to which localities it was hitherto believed to be peculiar. As