309 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
On the Gingee Squirrel of Sonnerat. 
Sonnerat, in his ‘ Voyage’ (vol. ii. p. 140), very shortly describes 
a Squirrel, under the name of ?Eewreuil de Gngi, thus :— 
«Rather larger than Sciurus vulgaris; fur entirely earthy grey, 
paler on the belly, legs, and feet ; on each side of the belly is a white 
streak extending from the armpits to the thighs; eyes surrounded 
with white ; tail entirely black, with some white hairs.” The fol- 
lowing names have been given to the subject of this notice :— 
Sciurus dschinschicus, Gmelin, 8. N.i.p. 151. 
S. gingianus, Shaw, Zool. ii. p. 147; Kuhl, Beitr. 67. 
S. albovittatus, Desm. Mam. 358; Horsf. Zool. Java. 
S. albovittatus, var. dschinschicus, Fischer, Syn. 
Macroxus albovittatus, Lesson. 
Gingee is in the Carnatic, near Pondicherry. Sonnerat’s descrip- 
tion has been considered to indicate a variety of Xerus setosus of 
Africa, which has spiny fur; but in that animal the streak is on each 
side of the back, and not on the sides of the belly. There is not a 
word in the short description to lead one to believe it was a spiny 
Squirrel, or lived on the ground; and I have never seen a Xerus 
from India. Sonnerat’s animal either belongs to a species not in 
European museums and not noticed by recent Indian naturalists, 
probably allied to S. platani of Java, or it may be a variety of the 
Macroxus bicolor, which is found in various parts of India and the 
Malay peninsula. It would be very interesting to receive a speci- 
men, agreeing with Sonnerat’s description, from the Carnatic.—J.E. 
Gray. 
On the Mode in which certain Rotatoria introduce Food into their 
Mouths. By EH. Craparkpe. 
In the Zygotrocha of Ehrenberg the vibratile apparatus may be 
regarded as double. The movement of the cilia is always in the 
same direction and opposite to that of the hands of a watch ; hence it 
is directed towards the mouth in the right wheel and from it in the 
left one. But observation proves that food passes to the mouth both 
from right and left, which is incompatible with the received notion 
that the currents conveying the food are produced by the vibratile 
apparatus. The examination of such Rotatoria as the Mélicerte 
and Lacinularie leads to the same result. 
In Melcerta ringens, on the lower surface of the membranous 
vibratile organ and parallel to its margin, M. Claparéde finds a sort 
of crest, between which and the margin there is a deep furrow. The 
extreme margin bears the well-known large cilia: the crest also 
