THE WHITE SQUIRREL FROM SIAM. 181 



Witli regard to Hor.^field's " Catalogue ", 'Sir. Robinson is quite 

 correct in stating that the habitat of" the species Sc. jinluijsoiii is given 

 as Siani, an:l that a specimen "A" is there recorded. But as Horsfield 

 was well aware tiiat a white squirrel had been obtained by Finlaj'sou 

 on Koh Si Chang, and yet makes no reference to that place, it may 

 naturally be inferred that specimen " A " was not the island animal. 

 Jlowevei' that may be, he says that the species occurs in Siam ; not on 

 Koh Si Chang. 



The provenance of Sc. //(6/a_(/so»n' seems to be left in no doubt, 

 but when uncertainty exists, as is so often the case in the writings of 

 the older authors, the first reviser has the right to designate a type- 

 specimen as Mr. Robinson says. lie has, however, equally the right 

 to indicate a type-localitj'. 



Though 1 do not consider it necessary in this case to call in the 

 assistance of a reviser, the first is unquestionably Dr. Jolin Anderson, 

 in whose "Zoological Researches in Yunnan '" published in 1878 there 

 are reviewed under " Sciurus ferrugineus" a number of squirrels wliich 

 he considered to be only varieties of that species. Fortunately as 

 regards Sc. finlaijsoni he is very explicit. He writes : — " I have per- 

 sonally studied the types of all these supposed species. The type of 

 S./udaysoai was obtained in Siam by Dr. Finlayson, and another was 

 l)rocured by the same traveller in Sichang Island off the coast of Siam." 

 That .'Vnderson regaided various examples from the mainland 

 and that from the island as exactlj' alike, is no matter in so far as the 

 present question is concerned, nor is the manner in which he studied 

 tiie specimens. His remark evidently a])plies to colour and not to size, 

 since (he species Sc. hocoaiii, also considerablj' smaller than Sc. fcrru- 

 tjiaeus is also regarded by him as merely a colour variety of the larger 

 animal. At that date the poor appearance of the skins veiled differ- 

 ences in size, and less importance was attached to dimensions than 

 to-day; measurements of specimens in the flesh were generally not 

 recorded, ami as tlie skulls were frequently left within the skins they 

 were often ignored for ])urposes of comparision. 



If, as .Mr. Robinson says, the date of the conceptit)n of a definite 

 specimen as a tjjje is more recent than Anderson's time, the latter 

 seems to have unconsciously anticipated the principle in this instance. 

 Regarding the point as settled and Anderson as the first reviser, 

 there was no need for me to bring into discussion tlie later papers of 

 Messrs. Bonhote and \Vroughton. As a matter of fact, iiowever, it 

 cannot be said that a " specimen from Koh Si Chang has been 

 definitely selected as the ty])e " by the former; Wroughton sa)'s that 

 "the type-locality is the island of Sichang" and gives dimensions 

 of a "type" which, however, he does not cite : but this is not quite the 

 same thing. Bonhote again (I^. /. S., 1901 ; not 1900, where he only 

 records a number of squirrels from the more northern parts of Siam as 

 Sc. jiidai/fniiii ) did not select a type as stated by Mr. Robinson ; he gives 

 measurements of the "type oH S. jinlmjsoiii" (which differ somewliat 



VOL. II. nice. I'-Mii. 



