(>G General Notes. 



Bl'FFOX'S " I'ORC-l^^Pir I)E MALACA." 



In tlic "(u^neral Notes" of Dcfi'mlii-r :!1 3Ir. Lyon repeats the assertion, 

 tirst made by Dr. Jentink, tliat Button's " Porc-ei)ie de Malaca," on 

 which hangs Hy.'<tri.r f<tsciciil<it(i Khaw, is a nieniher of the genus Trichyn, 

 and not an AthcrKrit,^ as was formerly supposecL 



But tliis reference to Trichjii^ is, I heUeve, (juite erroneous, and I regret 

 that I (hd not earlier pul)lis]i the notes I iiave on the subject, so as to pre- 

 vent the repetition of this mistake. 



Firstly, Buft'on's animal was said to comefr.jm Malacca, wliere J ^/(^'r^rHS 

 is connnon and Trichi/a is as yet unknown. 



v'^'econdly, " rognures de parchemin " t(^ which the flattened terminal 

 tail l)ristles are said to l>e similar nee(l not be translated ><tripx of parch- 

 ment, but rather " j)arings " or " clipi)ings," words (luite as ai)i)lical)le to 

 the beaded l)ristles of Jf/(('/-(//'».s as to the parallel-sided ones of Trichijs. 

 It is the undue imj)ortance attached to .'■-haw's translation "strips of 

 l)archment " which has misled j)revious writers on the matter. 



But the truth is readily shown l)y the following com])arative characters: 



lliijf'iiii'x F'npire. At}in'uriii<. Trichjix. 



Back profusely coveri'd With numerous long No bristles, or a few in- 



with long whiskers. dorsal bristles. conspicuous ones. 



Naked part of tail a])out Proportion as in fig- Tufted part of tail 

 eijual in length to tuft. ure. about i (jf naked 



l)art. 



Tuft large and bushy. Tuft large. Tuft small and thin. 



Biiff'oii ' .s Dexrriptiou . 



Tail about i:, of body. Tail, iritJi tuff, about Tail, %-%. 



3^ of body. 



" ri(juans blaucs a la Supines prominently t-'pines all l)rown. 

 pointe." white-tipped. 



It will therefore be seen that the jirojiortioiis of the tail and its terminal 

 tuft, tlu' color of the sj)ines, and the locality, all point definitely to Athc- 

 ruruH and not to Trichi/i^, while the " rognures de parchemin " jjhrase is 

 just as a])plicab]e to one as to the other. 



Neither this nor any other of Bufibn's figures is sufficiently accurate in 

 details to permit of importance being attached tu the shape of the terminal 

 caudal bristles as sliown in the illustration itself. 



My (letennination is therefore in accordance with that nuuk' by the two 

 Cuviers, who may have actually exanuned and described the specimen 

 figured by Bufi'on. 



The i)re.>Jent correction is of importance with regard to the nomenclature 

 of the species of Tricliys, but Ilystrl.r faaclcalata Sliaw, i)roving to l)e a 

 synonym of H. mavroura Linn., the latter is .still none the less the tyi)e of 

 the genus AlJii'i-nrim. — OhtfiiliJ TIidiikix. 



