101 



The fur is of a very soft \vooUy texture, and of a luiiform reddish 

 mouse colour over every part, only rather lighter on tlie sides of the 

 neck and belly than on the superior surface of thc body. The \vings are 

 ample, naked except upon the thighs and arms, and of a light brown 

 colour ; there is no real interfemoral membrane ; but the \vhole pos- 

 terior face of the thighs and body is margined with a narrow band of 

 integument about half an inch bioad, and covered above ■with the 

 šame description of hair as the back. The ears are small, nalced, 

 erect and elliptical, and the eyes placed much nearer to them, and 

 conseąuently at a greater comparative distance from the muzzle, than 

 in the ordinary Pteropi. 



Pteropus macrocephalus. The whole length of this species is 

 barely 6 inches, the length of the head 2 inches, and the expanse 

 of the wings about 1 foot 3 inches. The colour, form and appear- 

 ance are much the šame as in the lašt species, but the Pter. macro- 

 cephalus is at once distinguished by the great size of the head, as well 

 as by the colour of the flying membranes which are very dark brown, 

 nearly a^iproaching to black. The canine teeth also, as well as the 

 head, are of much larger size, and the interfemoral margin is nar- 

 rower. Dr. Horsfield, from the great length of the head, thinks that 

 this species may approximate to the Macroglossus of M. F. Cuvier, 

 the Pter. rostratus of his own ' Zoological Researches iu Java.' 

 It is to be observed, however, that it ditFers in dentition from that 

 animal, as well as from all other Pteropi hitherto deseribed ; and, 

 with the Pter. Gamhianus, may fumish the type of a nevv genus to 

 those who regard such modifications as amounting to generic cha- 

 racters. Mr. Rendall's coUection contains numerous specimens of 

 both the species here deseribed. 



The only other Cheiropter brought home by Mr. Rendall is the 

 Mecjaderma Frons of GeoiFroy, well deseribed byDaubenton; to whose 

 account I shall only add, that the \vings are of a deep orange colour, 

 and the fur unusually long and soft. 



Genus Herpkstes, III. 



Mr. Rendall has brought over specimens of two Herpestes, one of 

 which, the Herpestes Mongos of Linnseus, very vtII figm-ed and de- 

 seribed by Buffon (Hist. Nat., tom. xiii. tab. 19.), deserves to be 

 noticed, for the purjiose of correcting the habitat of the species, 

 which, upon BufFon's authority, has hitherto been given as India, but 

 ■vvhich Mr. Rendall's specimens clearly show to be the west coast 

 of Africa. The mistake originally arose from BufFon's having iden- 

 tified the Mangouste u bandės, the species at present under considera- 

 tion, with thc Mongos of Kaempfer, unquestionably an Indian spe- 

 cies (the Herpestes griseus of authors), and still commonly caŪed 

 by that name in Upper India, where many natives and Europeans 

 keep it in a semidomestic statė, for the purpose of destroying vermin. 

 Under these circumstances, though there are few cascs in which 



