ON THE LExMURID,E. 191 



• Speoies 1. — Murine Macauco, Pennant. 

 Microcebus murinus. 

 Lemur murinus, Pennant. 

 Lemur murinus, Gmel. 

 Rat de Madagascar, Buff., Supp. III. c. fig. 

 General colour clear grey ; a dark mark at the inner margin of each eye ; a line 

 between the eyes running down the top of the nose, white ; throat j and 

 under surface, together with the inside of the limbs, white ; tail rufous 

 grey. Length of head and body 5§ inches ; of the tail 6. 

 , Habitat, Madagascar. 



In Mus. Zool. Soc. 

 . For an account of the anatomy of this species, see Zool. Proceedings for 1835, 

 p. 125. 

 Species 2. — Little Macauco, Brown. 



• Microcebus pusillus, Geoff. 



Galago Madagascarienis, Geoff. 



Ololicnus Madagascariensis, Schinz. 



Little Macauco, Pennant. 



Fur soft, general colour rufous brown above, rusty grey beneath ; tail long, and 



somewhat tufted at the top. Size rather larger than that of preceding 



species. Habitat, Madagascar. — In Mus. Zool. Soc. 



The manner in which these two species have been confounded is not a little 



remarkable, seeing that they are very distinct. It is evident, however, that this 



confusion has arisen from a want of the opportunity of comparing them with 



each other, an opportunity which we have fortunately enjoyed. Though 



Geoffroy, as he tells us in his Cdurs de I' Histoire Naturelle, suspected that 



there were at least two species in the genus Microcebus, yet he only characterizes 



one as the Microcebe roux, which he regards as synonymous with Buffon's Rat 



de Madagascar. In his sketch of the Lemuridae, in the Annates, torn. 19, we 



find the Rat de Madagascar of Buffon, the Little Macauco of Brown, and 



the Lemur murinus of Pennant, synonymous with his GalagoMadagascanensis, 



which he describes as having "pelage roux." On referring to Pennant, we find 



him describing the Lemur murinus and the Little Macauco of Brown as distinct 



species. The Lemur murinus he characterizes as being of " an elegant light 



grey." The description of the Little Macauco is vague, its colour being called 



"cinereous." The former species he states to be about twice the size of a Mouse, 



the latter " rather less than the Black Rat." The term " cinereous," used by 



Pennant, in contradistinction to " elegant light grey" and the larger size attributed 



to the latter, render it at least probable that the species indicated in these 



descriptions were truly distinct. Gmelin describes the Lemur murinus as 



