Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/282

254 Very little positive value should be attached to the girth measurements taken at the base of the beaks, as may be inferred by a consultation of the columns devoted to these on Table II., which may be noticed particularly in the case of the three dry skin specimens distinguished from the others by an asterisk, and mentioned before. They prove in a striking manner that considerable shrinkage takes place on drying out, which, if ignored when admitting this measurement for a comparison of fresh with cabinet specimens, may lead to erroneous deductions.