GTMNUBA. 219 



Spines white or yellow, with a dark broad subterrninal band ; 

 tip white. 



Dimensions. Head and body 6 inches, tail 0*5, height of ear 

 from base 1 to 1*1, hind foot without claws 1*1, longest spine 0*8. 

 Skull, total length 1*75 inches, basal length 1*65. 



Distribution. The plains of Southern India, in the neighbourhood 

 of Madras, Trichinopoly, Coimbatore, &c. Other localities, such 

 as Cottyam, in Travancore, require confirmation, and the repeatedly 

 asserted occurrence of this form on the Nilgiris is shown by 

 Anderson to be incorrect; the animal is, however, found on the 

 eastern slopes towards the base. The northern range of the spe- 

 cies is not known, but if any hedgehog be found in the Bombay 

 Deccan, as stated by Adams and apparently confirmed by later 

 observers in the ' Bombay Gazetteer,' it is probably the present 

 species. It is remarkable, however, that none was obtained by 

 Sir W. Elliot in the Southern Mahratta country, and I do not re- 

 member ever seeing a hedgehog myself in the Bombay Deccan or 

 the Central Provinces. If, as Kelaart thinks probable, there is a 

 hedgehog in Ceylon, it is most likely to be E. micropus. 



Nothing especial appears to have been recorded of the habits of 

 this species. 



Other Asiatic species of hedgehog are E. aur.'tus from Southern 

 Siberia, the Caspian region, and Mesopotamia, and E. albulus 

 from Eastern Turkestan. 



Subfamily GYMNURIN.E. 



Genus GYMNURA, Horsf. & Vigors (1828). 



Syn. Echinosorcx, Blainv. (1831) ; Hylomys, Miiller and Schlegel 

 (1839). 



Fur without spines. Caudal vertebrae numerous and well deve- 

 loped. Head long, and nose pointed; ears rounded; feet and 

 claws well developed; tail nearly naked. Skull long; fcygomalic 

 arches very slender; palate-bones completely ossified posteriorly, 

 but with a transverse ridge, as in Erinaceus, behind the posterior 

 molars ; mesoptervgoid fossa not terminating behind in a deep 

 excavation ; pterygoid foseffi broad : an alisphenoid canal present. 

 Pelvis very narrow, with the ischial tuberosities much prolonged 

 backwards. 



Dentition : i. ?, c. =}, pm. g, m. |=f. Middle upper incisors 

 much larger than the others, and separated from each other ; the 

 next pair are smaller, the outer pair smaller still; nil single-rooted. 

 The canine is slightly larger than the first (middle) incisor, and 

 two-rooted. The first two upper premolars are very f-mall, the 

 third varies in the two species ; the fourth is large, and has four 

 roots. The molars are similar to those of Erinaceus. 



