94 HYSTRIX PREHENSILIS AND H. BRANDTII. 



Surinam sk. Rotterdam sk. 

 m. m. I m. m. 

 Width between parietalia .... 51 41 



Width between jugalia 56 53 



Height of skull 47 45 



Length of nasal bones 28 39 



Width of nasal bones 27 25,5 



Distance between incisor and first 



upper molar 25,5 ' 23,5 



Now it is evident that the skulls being of the same length, 

 the Rotterdam specimen has all its proportions smaller 

 except the length of the nasal bones. Moreover the roof 

 of the skull of the Rotterdam specimen is more vaulted ; 

 whereas the difference between the shape of the lower jaws 

 is another peculiarity of this species. 



And now the figures given by Cuvier agree entirely 

 with our Surinam skulls , and those given by Brandt with 

 our Rotterdam skull. 



Neither Cuvier nor Brandt have mentioned in the above 

 named works the number of vertebrae, but Wagner ') in 

 his list states that according to Cuvier the Synetheres pre- 

 hensilis has 16 vertebrae dorsales, 5 lumbares , 3 sacrales 

 and 30 caudales , which numbers agree very well with these 

 of our Surinam specimens. Cuvier's examples were from 

 Guyana , those of Brandt from Brazil , presented by Langs- 

 dorff. As Cuvier is the first author who gives figures of 

 Porcupine skulls with clear descriptions , we may consider 

 his Porcupine as the true Hystrix preliensilis, Brandt's 

 Porcupine is consequently another species, which agrees 

 with our specimen from Rotterdam. I propose to name 

 this species after Brandt, Hystrix Brandtii. 



Brandt ^) figures another skull of a young specimen 

 of Porcupine, about which he remarks: "junioris aetatis 

 animalis cranium, ob ossa nasi et frontis minus elevata 

 cercolabis insidiosi cranio longe similius." Here Brandt 



1) Schreber, Saugethiere, Suppl. Band III, 1843, p. 142. 

 3) O. C. tab. X, fig. 1 and p. 397. 



Notes from the Leyclen IMiiseum. 



