Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Miniopteris. 155 



direction, their tips point a little inwards. Seen laterally they are 

 nearly vertical. 



In form they present no remarkable deviation from what is com- 

 mon in the genera Fespertilio and Scotophilus : they are of nearly 

 equal length, the two nearest the canines simple in form and some- 

 what blunt, the inner ones more pointed and with a kind of basal 

 cusp or point near to the outer ones. The canines are of medium 

 size, and conical, with but little angularity, and possessed of a mode- 

 rately developed cingulum. The first pre-molar is small, and has a 

 central pointed cusp, surrounded by a fiattish space, from the centre 

 of which it projects. Its general appearance is that of a diminutive 

 canine having an exceedingly broad cingulum. Succeeding to this, 

 and contiguous to the first true molar, is a tooth which may be re- 

 garded as taking the place of the sectorial tooth of the Carnivora ; 

 it is rather long and pointed, with an inner basal ring, which is con- 

 siderably developed in the direction of the palate. 



The true molars have nothing remarkable either in number or 

 form. 



In the lower jaw the incisors exhibit a slight deviation from the 

 usual type. The four central ones are small and trilobed ; but the 

 two outer ones are conspicuously larger, and instead of having a thin 

 lobated edge, have a roundish flattened crown with a transverse cleft 

 through its centre, for the reception of the point of the outer upper 

 incisor when the jaws are closed. 



The lower canines are of the ordinary form ; but it is worthy of 

 remark, that the basal ring or collar is considerably developed, 

 running off into a flat basal space in the direction of the first pre- 

 molar, but rising up into a kind of blunt accessory cusp near to 

 the large incisor already mentioned. 



This form of canine cannot, however, be instanced as peculiar to 

 the genus, since I find that the additional cusp occurs more conspi- 

 cuously in some other species, as the common Noctule But, and the 

 equally common Long-eared Bat ; whilst in some others, as the 

 Kerivoula picta and the Barbastelle, it appears as a mere ring of 

 enamel around the base of the tooth. 



The three following teeth are of a very simple form, conical and 

 pointed, surrounded by a cingulum which is rather more developed 

 on the inside of the teeth than on the outer. They increase in size 

 evenly and rapidly, so that the one contiguous to the molars is the 

 highest tooth in the jaw, excepting the canine, and even to that it 

 is not greatly inferior. 



The only peculiarity I am able to note respecting the true molars 

 is, that the first has its anterior inner cusp so much produced as to 

 be nearly even with the outer anterior one, usually much the highest. 



The numeration of the teeth may be thus stated : — 



In. ^■, Can. ^j Prem. f^; Mol. 3=^5. 



The dimensions in column 1 of the following table are those of a 

 specimen from the Bannat ; 2, those of one from Sicily : both pre- 

 served in spirit. Column 3 contains the dimensions of the mutilated 



