46 Mr. K. Aiulcrscn on tlte Bats of the 



Noack emphasizes only one distinctive mark : tlic liorseshoe is 

 "bei Commersoni untcn gera(k\ hc'x alien 5 Ek. von var. marun- 

 (/ensis unten genan wie l)ei P/ii/ll. ci/clop.t rundlich lanzett- 

 tormig ausgebogen." This is a veiy suspicious character; it 

 is quite true that in " Coinniersoni" (?. e. both in the true 

 Commersoni and in giyas) the f'r(»iit margin of the horseshoe 

 is approximately " gerade " ; that is to say, when we examine 

 alcohol si)ccimens; but in skins it will, almost always, be 

 found more or less "rundlich lanzettformig ausgebogen" 

 (the meaning of these words is illustrated in Noack's fig. 31) ; 

 there can be small doubt, therefore, that Noack was misled 

 by the shrunk shape of the horseshoe in dried specimens. 

 That this explanation is correct seems proved, almost beyond 

 doubt, by a closer examination of Noaek's description and 

 figures: — (1) the whole set of nose-leaves (fig. 31, and 

 measurements on p. 273) are so extraordinarily small if 

 compared with the nose-leaves of alcohol specimens of 

 Commersoni {e. g. width of horseshoe 8'5 mm., as against 

 11"7 in Commersoni) that, if such were really their natural 

 aspect, marungensis would be a very different species ; but 

 their size is quite as in dried skins : (2) the number of leaflets 

 is stated to be three (p. 272) ; the small fourth is most often 

 difficult to observe in skins : (3) the exceedingly narrow and 

 pointed ears (fig. 31) cannot have lieen drawn from, nor can 

 the drawing have been controlled by comparison with, well- 

 preserved alcohol specimens : (4) " die Flughaut reicht bis 

 zu § der Tibia" (p. 274); no bat of the Commersoni ty^Q 

 known to me has, by far, ^ of the tibia free of the plagio- 

 patagium, but it often looks so in skins, owing to shrinkage 

 ot the narrow distal part of the membrane. Eliminating 

 all the statements just reviewed, which, so far as I can see, 

 must be erroneous, there remains the description and figures 

 of the ordinary East-African representative of the Commersoni 

 type, and the name marungensis is the earliest available for 

 this form. 



Plujllorliiaa Commersoni, var. thomensis ; Sept. 1891^'. — 

 Type locality: S.Thome. According to Hocage, this species 

 has three leaflets only ; I find tlie usual small fourth in one of 

 the skins at my disposal (two otlier skins unsuitable for this 

 })urpose). 



Hipposiderus Commersoni mostellum; May 1st, 190 tf. — 

 Tvpe locality: Tana River, British East Africa. This form 



• J. V. Barbnza dii fiocapfp, '" Sur une variety de ' PhyUorhina Com- 

 mersoni^ de I'ile St. Tliuiii^," Join. Soi. Math, &c. Lisboa, (2) ii. no. vi. 

 ]). >^8 (see also (2) vii. no. xxvi. (1904) p. <i7, where a misprint in the 

 uitasureinent of the ear of tl)e female is corrected). 



t Oldfield Thomas, " Three new Bats, African and Asiatic," Ann. & 

 Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) xiii. pp. 385-38G. 



