280 ^ir. K. Ainlerscii oji Ilipposideriis caffer 



as ill //. coffer^, seems to be a trifle more advanced : jj^ is in 

 sill tlic three specimens examined exceedingly small, so small 

 indeed as to be vcrv easily overlook(-d. 



Extcinaliy this bat is readily distingfuislicd from H. ca'J'cr 

 by its small size and veiy short tail and tibia (see measure- 

 uieuts below, p. 282). The wing-membrane is inserted 

 ou the middle or distal part of the metatarsus or on the 

 base of the jihalanges ; in caffcr it is never prodidd 

 furiher backwards than the base of the metatarsus, and this 

 but very rarely. 



'J'vpe : — ? ad. (in alcohol). 15 miles from Benito River ; 

 Feb* 1891). Collected by G. L. Bates, Esq. Brit. Mus. 

 no. 0. 2. 5. 45. — A second specimen (Brit. Mus. no 

 5. 5. 23. 11), also obtained by Mr. Bates, is from Etnleii, 

 Cameroons. A third S])cciment, f'Om Mt. Coffee, Liberia, 

 is j)rcserved in the Washington Museum (no, 8 3857) :|:. 



Judging from this, H. bea/us is distributed over the 

 countries bordering the Gulf of (iuinea, from Benito River 

 to Liberia. Thus it inhabits the same region as the large- 

 skulled and large-tootlied H. c. guiueens'is. 



General Remarks. 



The conclusions recorded in the foregoing pages arc based 

 on a study of 111 s])ecimens and 79 skulls, fivnu localities 

 scattered over almost the whule ex[)lor(;d jiart of the I'^thi )pian 

 Reg on. AVithnut so extensive a material — probably the 

 lai'gest ever brought together in one place — 1 should not 

 bave ventured an attempt to disentangle the various species 

 and geographical races of this particularly difficult group of 



* Dentition in 70 skulls of //. coffer (all racev : — Pa always wanting. 

 ^)., and p^ never separated ; in 10 speciine s in simple contact, in t)6 over- 

 lapping each other at base, p- r.lways external to the sei ies and always 

 e;v-ily observable. Upper canines aud^^' in '21 sj eciniens dislincily sepa- 

 rated; in '69 e.\treinely slightly separated or almost in coirtact; in 8 

 cuuiplelely in contact on one side of the jaw only, in 1;J on either side. 



t lor the loan of this specimen I am indebted to the Anthorities of 

 lliB United States National Mu emu. It is one of the Hi/ pvsiderus 

 coffer mentioned by Gerrit S. Miller in his paper on a collection of small 

 manmials from Mount Coffee, Liberia (Proc. Wa»h. Acad. ii. (1900) 

 p. 647 ; forearm 4i' mm.). 



J A fuurth specimen, not ex.imined b\- me, is in a Continental (probably 

 Swedish or German) Museum: — In his " tjauiiethiere aus Kamerun, 

 AVest-Afrika " (Bih. Kgl. 8ven.rKa Vet.-Akad. Ilandl. xxiii. Afd. i\ . no. 1, 

 p. 18; 1897) L)r. Yugve Sjoste.lt give-; some external niea^urenieuts of 

 10 " //. luffer " ; no. 1 is Sund: vall's tyi)e, from Port Natal ; nos. 2-8 

 and 10, all from Cameroon, are probably H. c. (juineensU ; no. 9, also from 

 Cameroon, with the forearm measuriug 44 mm., the tail 24, and the tibia 

 It), is undoubtedly a 11. bcntus. 



