164 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 45. 



indescribable when after a quarter hour I had the luck to discover the female in the 

 leafy summit of a large tree lying on the ground, amongst the parasitic vegetation which 

 thickly covered the tree, and to capture it with the help of the woodcutters. I then 

 kept the pair alive for several hours in order to observe them. The long pentail they 

 carried hanging or lightly outstretched, and at the same time they constantly moved 

 it to and fro like the pendulum of a clock. It appeared to me as if they used the tail 

 as an organ of touch. If I merely touched lightly the hairs of the plume with my 

 finger, they moved away, but they permitted themselves to be gently stroked and 

 handled without maldng an attempt to bite. They sniffed the bananas which I laid 

 before them, but they did not eat any. As I feared through some accident these rare 

 and interesting little animals might escape from me, I chloroformed them at evening, 

 measured them at once, and preserved them in alcohol. 



Of this pair the male is preserved in the Natural History Museum 

 at Basel and the female at Strassburg. 



Subspecies. — Two forms of Ptilocercus lowii have thus far been 

 recognized, true lowii on Borneo, and continentis from the Malay 

 Peninsula. The specimen from Banka is probably the same form as 

 the Bornean one. The Sumatran and Batu specimens are here 

 regarded as the same as the peninsular form. The two subspecies 

 are not highly differentiated from one another, and it would be well 

 if their distinctness could be established by the examination of more 

 material or the examination of all the known examples together. 

 The only material that I have carefully examined is that in the 

 United States National and British Museums. 



KEY TO THE SUBSPECIES OF PTILOCERCUS LOWII. 



Toes not different in color from rest of hind foot; muzzle and palate slightly broader. 



Borneo, Banka; P. lowii lowii, p. 164. 

 Toes distinctly lighter in color than rest of hind foot; muzzle and palate slightly nar- 

 rower. Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Batu Islands P. lowii continentis, p. 165. 



PTILOCERCUS LOWII LOWII Gray. 



1848. Ptilocercus lowii Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1848, p. 23, pi., mammalia, 

 2, entire animal in colors, very good. 



1848. Ptilocercus lowii, Gray, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 2, vol. 2, p. 212, Septem- 

 ber, 1848. The same account as appeared in Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1848. 



1850. Ptilocercus loioii. Gray, Zool. Voy. Samarang, p. 18, pi. 5, entire animal in 

 colors, and views of skull and teeth. 



Type-locality. — Sarawak (the town), northern Borneo. 



Type-sjyecimen. — In British Museum, mounted skin, Reg. No. 

 47.12.30.1, and skull, Reg. No. 48.5.12.3, collected in the Rajah's 

 house, Sarawak, Borneo, by ^Ir. Hugh Low. The mounted skin is 

 very old and exhibition worn, and was probably made from an 

 alcoholic specimen; considerable patches of hair have slipped from 

 the left side and from belly. The skull is perfect and in good condi- 

 tion, but is not fully adult, as the deciduous incisors are still retained. 



