470 Prof. J. Van der Hoeven on the Pithecheir melanure. 



gate in particular spots in preference to others, though it is 

 sometimes difficult to assign a cause for such assemblages ; 

 such are Doris bilamellata, Doto coronata, &c. Another group 

 appear seldom or never to centralize themselves, being found at 

 intervals over all the shore, such as Eolis coronata and Drum- 

 mondi and Do7-is proxima ; while a fourth section may be re- 

 garded as purely accidental visitors to the beach, being inhabit- 

 ants of deeper water, such as Tritonia Hombergii. 



There is therefore a great advantage in searching in company ; 

 for what is one upon a vast sea-shore ! and how small a propor- 

 tion of the stores upon a rocky beach can one person examine 

 in the short duration of an unusual ebb ! Not only is there a 

 double chance of finding when two are at work, but the proba- 

 bility of a successful hunt is vastly increased by systematic and 

 friendly combination. 



46 Nelson Street, Liverpool, 

 April 18, 1859. 



XL VI. — On the Pithecheir melanure of F. Cuvier. 

 By J. Van der Hoeven*. 



In the year 1833, F. Cuvier published a figure derived from the 

 French traveller and naturalist, Alfred Duvaucel, who had died 

 some years previously at Madras. To this figure no notes had 

 been appended by the traveller ; and Cuvier was uncertain whe- 

 ther the species of mammal which it represented was from the 

 north of Bengal or from the eastern parts of Sumatra. He 

 named this species Pithecheir melanure, and placed it, with some 

 hesitation, amongst the Rodents f. 



I am not aware that since that time anything relating to this 

 species of mammal has been published. The Rijks Museum of 

 Natural History has for several years been in possession of two 

 specimens that seem to belong to this species — or at least, beyond 

 doubt, stand in its neighbourhood. The only diflTerence that I 

 can discover appears to consist in the colour of the tail, which is 

 not black, so that the name melanure is not applicable to this 

 animal. Still, this difference is perhaps to be attributed to the 

 artist alone ; at all events, it is of small significance. 



The name Pithecheir may probably refer to the ape-like hands 

 of the hinder extremities, and, by a bold contraction, stand for 

 PitJiecochirus. 



* From the ' Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van 

 Wetenscliappen, Afdeeling Natuurkunde,' Deel ix. bl. 50. 



t Histoire naturelle des Maiumiferes, avec figures coloriees, par M. 

 Geoffrov Sainte-Hilaire et M. Frederic Cuvier. Fol. Livraison 66. 



