50 General Notes. 



A new name for Mus atratus Miller. 



The name Mus atratus which I recently applied to a rat from the 

 Nicobar Islands (Proc. U. S. National Museum, XXIV, p. 767, May 28, 

 1902) is preoccupied by Mus atratus Philippi (Annales del Museo Na- 

 cional de Chile, Entrega 14, p. 57, 1900). It may therefore be replaced 

 by Mus atridorsum. — Oerrit 8. Miller, Jr. 



A new name (Hoplias) for the genus Macrodon of Muller. 



The name Macrodon was given by Johannes Muller in 1842 for a well- 

 known genus of Erytlirinoid or Characinoid fishes. Although univer- 

 sally adopted since that time, it must be abandoned for the genus in 

 question, inasmuch as it had been given as early as 1822 by Schinz, as 

 a substitute for Ancylodon of Cuvier (1817), another preoccupied name 

 (1811). The new designation Hoplias is proposed instead, and Hoplias 

 tareira (Macrodon traJiira Muller) or malabaricus is the type. — T/teo. Gill. 



The technical name of the Indian Flying Fox. 



Pteropus medius, the current name for the flying fox of India, is not 

 tenable. It dates from 1827, the year in which Temminck issued the 

 first volume of his ' Monographies de Mammalogie ' (the name is pro- 

 posed on page 176), and, although earlier than Hodgson's Pteropus len- 

 cocephalus and McClelland's Pteropus assamensis, assuming that all three 

 refer to the same animal, is itself antedated by the Vespertilio gigantea of 

 Briinnich. This name was published at Copenhagen in 1782, on page 

 45 of a little-known book, a small quarto volume containing seventy-six 

 pages and seven plates, entitled: "Dyrens Historie og Dyre-Samlingen 

 udi Universitetets Natur-Theater. Forste Bind."* Although the bat is 

 not among the species figured the description is detailed and accurate. 

 The fact that the account was based on a stuffed specimen from Bengal, 

 while Temminck's animal was collected at Calcutta, removes the last 

 element of doubt as to the equivalence of the names. The common 

 flying fox of India must therefore be known as Pteropus gig ant ens. — 

 Oerrit 8. Miller, Jr. 



* This work, of which only the first volume appears to have been pub- 

 lished, was brought to my attention by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger. The 

 new names that it contains are not mentioned by Fischer, Dobson, or 

 Trouessart, but are all cited by Sherborn. 



