CYNONICTERIS. o 



portion of the day is passed in sleep, after^ perhaps, doing incalculable 

 mischief the night previous, "When food becomes scarce in their 

 usual haunts, they are said to often travel great distances to obtain it, 

 returning to their sleeping place about sunrise. 



Medicinally the flesh of this species is recommended by native 

 practitioners to be eaten as a curry in diabetic cases, as also in cases 

 where muscular energy is deficient. The fat boiled down is a very 

 favourite remedy in rheumatism of the joints. 



Cynonicteris, Peters, Reise nach. Mosamb. Saugctlt. p. 25 ; Dohson, 

 Monog. As. CJiir. p. 29; Jour. As. Soc. Ben. p. 202. Xantharpyias et 

 Eleutherura, Gray, Cat. MonJceys and Fruit-eating Bats 'p. lib. 



Muzzle long and conical ; nostrils projecting by their inner margins ; 

 upper lip grooved in front with sloping margins. Index finger with a 

 distinct claw. Metacarpal bone of the middle finger as long as, or 

 longer than, the index finger. Wings from the sides of the back and 

 base of the second toe. Tail short, distinct, partially included in the 

 narrow interfemoral membrane. 



Dentition — As in Pteropus. 



Cynonicteris amplexicaudata, Peters, M.B. Ahad.Bcrl.p. 865; 

 Dohson, Pro. As. Sue. Ben. p. 154 (1870); Jour. As. Soc. Ben. 1873, 

 p. 202, pi. xiv., fig. 8 ; Monog. As. Chir. p. 29 ; Cat. Chir. Br. Mus. p. 72 ; 

 Anderson, Cat. Mam. hid. Mus. p. ]03. Pteropus Leschenaulti, Desmar. 

 Mamm. p. 110. P. pyrivorous, Hodgs. Jour. As. Soc. Ben. 1835, p. 700. 



Plate I. Fig. 1. 

 Head long, triangular; edges of the groove on upper lip smooth, not 

 thickened as in Pteropus and Ci/nopterus. Ears moderate, triangular, 

 rounded at the tip, the upper half of the outer margin straight, the 

 lower half convex. Posteriorly the ears are naked, except at their 

 bases ; anteriorly the conch is clothed with a few very short fine hairs. 

 The fur of the body extends upon the humerus and upon the fleshy 

 part of the forearm ; the remaining part to the carpus has only a very 

 few fine hairs. The portion of the back and wing membrane covered 

 with fur across the loins is not more than an inch in breadth. The 

 interfemoi^al membrane is densely covered with hair at the root of the 

 tail, and on either side as far as lines drawn from the knee-joints to the 

 base of the free portion of the tail ; the remaining portion, the legs and 

 a considerable part of the wing membrane beyond, are clothed with 

 short thinly spread fur, which extends. along the wing membrane and 

 legs to the back of the feet. Beneath, the ante-humeral membrane is 

 clothed with rather long, thinly spread fur, and the wing membrane is 

 similarly co^'ered as far as a line drawn from the knee to a point 

 about half an inch posterior to the elbow. The interfemoral mem- 

 brane, the legs and the feet, are covered with a few short hairs. Fur 

 short, varying in colour from dark olive or smoky brown to reddish 

 or yellowish browm. First upper premolars minute, equally distant 

 from the canine and second premolar ; second premolar exceeding 

 lower'canine in vertical extent ; first lower pi-emolar small, less than 

 half the size of the second premolar; second premolar nearly equal to 

 lower canine in vertical extent. 



