252 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [April, 



the clitoris being concealed by a circular fold of integument, as 

 obtains also in Chiromys.-^ The teats are pectoral in position, and 

 there are two pairs. One young only is born at birth, as obtains 

 also in Chiroptera. The placenta is said by Gervais"^ to be dis- 

 coid. If such is the case, then Galeopitheeiis agrees in the charac- 

 ter of its placentation with the Chiroptera and Insectivora, and not 

 with the Lemuroidea, the placenta in the latter (Propitheciis 

 diadema, Lemur rufipes) being diffuse." 



From the above observations it appears that Galeopithecus 

 agrees as regards its organization in some respects with the Lemuroi- 

 dea, in others with the Insectivora and in others with the Chiroptera, 

 and yet again differing in many respects from all three. -^ Consid- 

 erable difference of opinion has, therefore, prevailed in the past 

 and still prevails among systematists as to which of these three orders 

 of mammals Galeopitheeiis should be referred to, or whether it 

 should be regarded as the sole representative of a fourth distinct 

 order of mammals, Galeopithecidse. The species of Galeopithecus 

 upon the study of which this communication was based was called 

 by Linnseus"* Lemur volans, a name indicating perfectly the view 

 of the great naturalist as to its natural affinities. Pallas,^* who 

 was among the first to describe Galeopithecus, while admitting that 

 it resembled in some respects the Lemuroidea, considered it as 

 being equally closely related to the Chiroptera. To the latter 

 order of mammals it was referred by Cuvier.^*^ In modern times 

 Galeopithecus has been usually regarded as being an aberrant form 

 of Insectivora, that view being held more particularly by the 

 English anatomists, such as Huxley," Flower and Lyddeker.^^ 

 Notwithstanding the difference of opinion as to the nature of 

 Galeopithecus held by the above anatomists and others, all agree 



2«H. C. Chapman, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sciences, 1900, p. 433. 



-1 Op. cit., p. 448. 



^'^ Wm. Turner, Comparatwe Anatomy of the Placenta, 1876, p. 57 ; A 

 Milne-Edwards et Grandidier, Madagascar Mammi feres, T. 1, 1875, p. 

 283. 



-' For a resume of these agreements and diBagreements, see Leche, 

 op. cit., pp. 72-74. 



-* Systema NaturcB, 1758. Tomus 1, p. 30. 



-^ Galeopithecus Volans Camellii Dcscriptus, Acta Acad. Scieut. Imper- 

 ialis Petropolitanaj, 1780, p. 308. 



=« Regne Animal, 1817, Tome I, p. 30, 



2^ Anatomy of Vertebrated Animals, 1872, p. 383. 



''^ Mammals Living and Extinct, 1891, p. 615. 



