VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 48*7 



combining the Lemurian and African regions as for separat- 

 ing them, and that it is premature to recognize an " Antarc- 

 tic realm " until there is evidence that there are some land 

 animals in it. Mr. Allen's entire memoir, however, deserves 

 a careful study, and will well repay such an examination. 



The Species of Bats. 



On the whole, of all the orders of mammals, the Bats have 

 been, until lately, least studied and understood. Recently, 

 however, Mr. George Edward Dobson has capped his labors 

 on that order by a complete monographic account of all the 

 representatives of the group, under the title of " A Catalogue 

 of the Chiroptera in the Collection of the British Museum." 

 "The total number of species described in the following 

 pages is 400." Of these VI belong to the suborder of Fru- 

 .givora, or fruit-eating bats (designated, by Dobson, on ac- 

 count of the large size of most of the species, Megachiroptera), 

 and the rest constitute the suborder of Animallvora (named, 

 by Dobson, in contrast with the former, Microchiropterci). 

 The frugivorous bats all belong to one family (the Pteropo- 

 dldce) ; but the animalivorous forms are manifested under 

 several modifications of family value. The number and re- 

 lationships of such families, however, can by no means be 

 said to be satisfactorily established by Mr. Dobson, although 

 better approximated than by his predecessors. Mr. Dobson 

 has considered, or at least analytically applied, (1) as of the 

 first importance, the total inclusion in, or partial extension 

 from, the interfemoral membrane of the tail; (2) then the 

 number of the phalanges of the middle finger; (3) next the 

 development or non-development of the cutaneous foliaceous 

 appeudages around the nostrils ; (4) the presence or absence 

 of tragi to the ears; and (5) lastly, the development of the 

 intermaxillary bones. Distinguished by the varying combi- 

 nations of modifications of those parts, five families are rec- 

 ognized among the animalivorous forms. These are: (1) 

 Rhinolophidfp, with subfamilies PJiinolophinm and Phyllo- 

 rhinince ; (2) Mycteridw, with subfamilies Megaderminm and 

 Mycterinm ; (3) Vespevtilionidte, homogeneous; (4) Emballo- 

 nuridce, with subfamilies Emballonurinaz and Molossinw ; 

 and (5) Phyllostomidce, with subfamilies Phyllostomince and 

 Lobostomince. These five families are seixreoated amono- two 



