the Generic Name Tliylacomys. 223 



Mr. Palmer, of Washington, writes to establish the name 

 Tliylacomys in lieu of Peragale for the Bielby or Rabbit- 

 Bandicoot, but, like myself, he has not access to the 1840 

 edition, and quotes as his authority the two editions con- 

 sulted by me (^vide his footnote). j\Ir. Palmer has evidently 

 not seen my note and has failed to perceive that in the editions 

 examined the spelling of the word is Thalacomys. Under 

 tiiese circumstances 1 would request the editors of the 

 ' Annals ' to kindly examine the original (1840) edition, and 

 publish the information desired for tlie benefit of the be- 

 nighted workers in Washington and Sydney"^. 



[This case is more difficult of decision than Mr. Waite 

 supposes, for although in the 1,840, as well as in the later 

 editions, of his ' Animal Kingdom ' Blyth spells the name 

 Thalacomys, yet Palmer is, as I have veriiied, perfectly correct 

 in quoting the first merition of it, in the ' Athenaeum ' of 1838, 

 as T/iylacomySj and in the ' Catalogue of Marsupials,' equally 

 anterior to Mr. Waite's rodent ThylacomySj it is also spelt in 

 the same way. 



This being the case, I hardly think that the name Tliyla- 

 comys could be regarded as a name still valid in 1898 for 

 another genus, even if that form of it be not adopted for the 

 Kabbit- Bandicoot. No doubt the * Athemeum ' reference 

 might be treated as a nomen nudum did it stand alone f ; but 

 the other references, incorrect as Blyth's was and indirect as 

 was my own, yet together seem to make it impossible that 

 Thylacomys should be used elsewhere in zoology. 



The following additional note by Mr. Waite is therefore 

 published at his request in case Thylacomys were considered 

 invalid for the rodent. — 0. Thomas.] 



Inquiry therefore brings out the fact that the form Thyla- 

 comys has been used. For my present purpose it is of no 

 consequence whether tlie genus has been sufficiently diagnosed 

 or not. The word has been used in scientific literature, and 

 is therefore not again available in zoology. 



In place of Thylacomys, Waite, I propose the name Asco- 

 'pharynx. 



Australian Museum, Sydney. 

 16th November, 1899. 



* [In the 1840 edition the name is given as Thalacomys, Owen. — Eds.] 

 t So far as the form to he used is concerned I should do this, calling- 

 the Kabhit-Bandicoot Thalacomys lagotis. 



