256 ZAGLOSSUS. 



partially albinistic. It has the head from the base of the rostrum back nearly 

 half the distance to the ear opening, white, a white spot on the right side in 

 front of the shoulder, another on the left side behind the shoulder, and an irregu- 

 lar series of marks on the rump. It is evident that such marks are of no taxo- 

 nomic value in the present case. No. 7,398 M. C. Z. is a topotype from Mt. 

 Arfak, and is preserved in alcohol. The face, forehead, limbs, and belly are a 

 dark \'andyke l)rown, darkening to seal-brown over the dorsal region. The 

 fur is thick and woolly, but the spines project conspicuously above it. These 

 spines are uniformly blackish with white tips, are short on the occiput but large 

 over the back, shoulders, and caudal region where the longest reach nearly 

 37 mm. They encroach slightly on the sides of the venter, but are few and 

 scattered on the belly. Thomas (1907a) says that in bruijnii the belly is with- 

 out spines throughout but this is hardly the case in any of the specimens I have 

 examined. In its possessing black spines this specimen resembles "nigro- 

 aculeata," but it is not so thinly haired as Rothschild describes. The flattened 

 character of the spines in this supposed race is unciuestionably the result of 

 wear. For in an old specimen, M. C. Z. 12,414, many of the dorsal spines are 

 worn quite to the small hollow center and have become beveled off nearly flat 

 on their dorsal surface. This old specimen consists of a skin and skeleton from 

 Fak Fak, New Guinea. The hair and spines are greatly worn and so scattered 

 that the skin is everywhere visible. The general color of the hair on the fore part 

 of the head is a pale buffy, but on the dorsal part of the body the scattered 

 bristles are blackish or blackish brown. Those on the ventral surfaces are a 

 more decided brownish, near Front's brown. On the fore limbs are a number of 

 grizzled whitish hairs with the brown. Of the spines, almost all are white 

 throughout but a few, on the shoulders, back, and hips are blackish, with pale 

 bases. The ventral spines are short and are distributed from the axilla nearly 

 to the groin. They are arranged in rather definite curved rows, the most an- 

 terior passing posteriorly and dorsally, the later rows curving laterally from the 

 axilla, then in towards the groin. These ventral spines reach to within 25 mm. 

 of the midline. This large specimen is apparently identical in general char- 

 acters with that described by Thomas (1907a) as Acanthoglossus goodfellowi 

 from the island of Salawatti. There can be little dou}:)t tliat both are simply 

 old animals with the hair either much worn or partly shed. Of much interest 

 in our specimen is the fact that among the large worn spines are scattered other 

 smaller ones, sharp-pointed and unworn, that appear to be new spines coming in. 

 In 12,415, M. C. Z., an adult also from Fak Fak, the spines are large, stout, 



