022 Prof. E. Lonnberg on Eastt'm [!ed(]ehopn. 



lie named calif/oni. In the same paper the autlior quoted 

 says about anritus that " it does not g;o farther soutli than 

 the Ust-Urt in the Transcaspian ])rovince." He adds 

 further " the distribution of E. uur'ilus l)e^ins in the steppes 

 of the Northern Caucasus, in the plains of the Manytsh ; it 

 then extends to the north between the Don and the Volga, 

 up to the hillocks of ]']rgheni, and thence goes eastward 

 through the Volga-Ural and the Kirghiz steppes approxi- 

 mately between 45"^ and 55° N. lat." The eastern boundary 

 line he supposes to be at the Balkash-depression. In Persia 

 another hedgehog (persicus, Satuniu) is at home, and so on. 

 It is then very difficult to believe that the real auriths 

 should have another centre in Egypt. It appears thus most 

 jirobable to the present writer that plutyotis, Sundev., can 

 defend its rank as a racial unit different from the Russian 

 auriins. 



The latter appears to be a larger animal, as Satunin 

 records the length as anioiinting up to 210 mm.; while 

 Sundevail gives the same dimension of piafi/otis as 165 mm. 

 The skull of auritus has at least partly larger dimensions. 

 The zygomatic width of the same being about 30-31, while 

 it is 26-27 mm. in platyotis. Least postorbital breadth of 

 the former 12-1 25 (Satunin), in the latter (Sundevall's 

 type-specimens) ll-]P2mm. Breadth across ni" in the 

 former 19-19-2 {Saiunin'),\w the latter 16-5-17 (fide Ander- 

 son even 17-5). No doubt further direct cumi)arisons of 

 typical material will prove the distinctness of Sundevall's 

 platyotis. 



In connection with this, I take the opportunity of com- 

 municating some remarks on imperfectly or not at all known 

 hedgehogs from Eastern Asia. 



Erinaceus dealbatus, Swinhoe. 



Three specimens from ^li-Yiin-Hsien and two from Shun- 

 I-Hsieu, Niu-Latig-Shan, both localities in Chihli, Oct. 1920, 

 presented by Professor J. G. Anderson to the R. Nat. Hist. 

 Museum, Stockholm. 



The original description of this hedgehog is very short 

 and unsufficient, but, to judge from the locality, I think the 

 identification must be correct. The median parting of the 

 spines on the crown with a naked area between them is well 

 visible both in the younger and older specimens. Tiie latter 

 are much lighter in their general colouring, because they 

 have a great number of entirely white spines. The coloured 

 ones arc usually white at the base, then follows a very broad 

 brownish ring, which, however, is not very well defined, but 



