226 Annals of tJie South African Museum. 



Oryctcnts maritinms, WATEBHOUSE, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) viii., 

 p. 81, pi. ii., fig. 1 [skull] , (1842). 



Description. General colour slaty grey with a distinct brown 

 tinge on the back, fur soft, thick and rather woolly, slaty for the 

 greater part of its length, the tips on the back being pale brown ; 

 head somewhat acutely pointed, a considerable flesh-coloured patch 

 surrounding the nostrils and reaching the edge of the upper lip ; the 

 incisors so long that they are always visible, the lips not being large 

 enough to cover them ; eyes about as large as the head of a large 

 pin, the eyeballs being about '10 in. in diameter ; external ears 

 absent, a small round hole surrounded by a fleshy coloured bare 

 margin marking the external opening of the meatus ; limbs very 

 short, the fore feet with five toes all with large strong claws much 

 better developed than those of the hind feet, the second the longest, 

 then the. third, fourth, fifth, and first in order ; hind foot with a 

 broad naked sole, along the sides of which run fringes of white stiff 

 bristle-like hairs ; the five toes of the hind foot are all clawed, the 

 middle one being the longest, the claws somewhat flattened and nail- 

 like ; tail very short, covered on the sides and below with stiff white 

 bristles. 



Incisors white, those of the upper jaw strongly grooved down the 

 middle of the tooth ; those of the lower very long, sometimes over 

 three inches, of which half protrude beyond the socket ; these teeth 

 are separated by a slight interval ; the molars somewhat oval in 

 section, decreasing in size from in front backwards, surrounded by a 

 ring of enamel with infoldings gradually disappearing with age. 



White and piebald varieties of this animal are not uncommon. 



Dimensions (from a skin). Head and body 16'50 ; tail 1*25 ; hind 

 foot 1'87 ; from ear-opening to nose-tip 4'50 ; skull length 2-70, 

 breadth 1-90 ; upper molars '50. 



Distribution. This animal appears to be found only along the 

 coast and never inland, it is abundant near Cape Town, and seems 

 to extend northwards to Namaqualand, and eastwards as far as 

 Knysna certainly, perhaps as far as Bathurst. All the specimens 

 in the South African Museum are from the neighbourhood of Cape 

 Town. 



GEN. GEOEYCHUS. 



Georychus, ILLIGEE, Prodr. Syst. Mam., p. 87 (1811). Type G. 

 capensis. 



Eodent moles closely resembling Batliycrgus externally, but with 



