ï>OTAMOGALn: VELOX. 235 



Dobson's *) description runs as follows: »the general 

 colour of the fur of the whole upper surface of the head , 

 body and tail , and of the outer sides of the limbs is 

 brown ; but the longer hairs which project from the dense 

 under fur show a violet metallic lustre by reflected light; 

 the under surface of the body, from the end of the man- 

 dible to the anus, is yellowish white". 



Professor Allman's ^) specimen had »the color of the 

 upper side of the head , with the back and the entire 

 tail, and the outer side of the fore and hind limbs dark 

 brown. The whole of the underside of the body , from the 

 extremity of the nose to the vent is brownish yellow". 



Now it may be that — Prof. Allman's specimen having 

 been preserved in spirits — it has somewhat lost the 

 beautiful pure white or yellowish white color of the under- 

 parts, I however can hardly believe that the color of a bright 

 colored specimen can ever turn into a brownish yellow 

 (see description) or yellow (see plate) as we ought to ac- 

 cept if Allman's specimen has been exactly described and 

 figured after life. There is however another preponderant 

 reason to believe that Allman's Potamogale has been very 

 badly described or is not a specimen of P. velox at all, 

 and the reason is; 

 that, according to duBocage, P. velox has 40 teeth, the dental 



lormula alter Uobson is i. ^ — ^, c. -, pm. - — -^ m. — — 



or 40 like du Bocage's statement, but that Allman's spe- 



3 3 Q A 



cimen had a skull with the dental formula i. , c. , 



3—8' 0—0' 

 3 3 3 3 



p. ^ — ^, m. ~ — - = 36 teeth — and Prof. Allman has 

 o — o o — ö 



very minutely studied the dentition , as the suppressed 



canine teeth were a puzzle to him (see 1. c. p. 6). 



1) A monograph of the Insectivora, systematic and anatomical, 1883, Pt. II, 

 p. 98; with plates. 



2) Trans. Zool. Soc. Vol. VI, 1869, p. 4; with figures and plates. 



Notes from the Leyden IMuseura , Vol. XVI. 



