236 POTAMOGALE VELOX. 



I ara indebted to Professor Hubreeht for the kindness 

 with which he placed the material from the Utrecht-col- 

 lection at my disposal for examination. A skin from the 

 Congo without tail and extremities is a good deal larger 

 than a perfectly complete skin with skull from the same 

 locality. Both skins present the underparts of the body 

 colored whitish like Du Chaillu's, Du Bocage's, Dobson's 

 and our specimens ; the skull is armed with 40 teeth , so 

 that Allman's specimen again stands isolated. 



In conclusion , if Allman's individual has not been de- 

 colored by the action of spirits and has the skull not 

 mutilated , and if Allman's description and figure of the 

 animal are correct, we are obliged to accept that — his 

 specimen may be a Potamogale — it very likely cannot 

 belong to P. velox , and therefore ought a new specific 

 title: in the latter case I call it P. Allmani. 



The Utrecht-, as well as the Leyden-specimens, have, 

 like all other specimens of P. velox, the hind limbs syn- 

 dactylous , a very remarkable arrangement , only known — 

 as far as I am aware — to exist in Hylohates syndactylus 

 and among Marsupials. 



Observation. Dr. Dobson ^) has mentioned and figured 

 the long stiff vibrissae springing from the sides of the 

 muzzle aud arising from large hair-follicules , arranged in 

 horizontal rows , which , by their size , cause the peculiar 

 width of the muzzle. I find a pair of such long stiff 

 vibrissae arising from large hair-follicules placed on the 

 chin ; these organs are perfectly preserved in our specimen, 

 meanwhile in the mutilated specimen of the Utrecht- 

 collection the vibrissae have been cut off, so that only 

 the large hair-follicules are present, and in the stuffed 

 specimen of that collection , the vibrissae having been 

 removed, there are two openings in the skin. 



1) I. c. p. 98, pi. IX. fig. 11. 



Notes from the Leyden IMuseum, Vol. XVI. 



