384 Miscellaneous. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Note on the Nomenclature of three Genera of Fossil Mammalia. 

 By R. Lydekker, B.A., F.G.S., »S:c. 



In the ' Catalogue of Fossil Mammalia in the British Museum ' I 

 have adopted the name ^^Ehirogale {Ailurogale), Eilhol, for an 

 extinct genus of Felidae, and Stijlodon, Owen, for one of the Meso- 

 zoic Polyprotodont Marsupials. The name jElurorjale is, however, 

 preoccupied by Fitzinger (Sitzb. Ak. Wiss. Wien, 1869, p. 77), who 

 applied it to Felis planiceps ; and Dr. Trouessart (Bull. Soe. Angers, 

 XV. 1885, Cat. of Mamm. p. 92) has proposed in substitution the 

 name yElurictis (Ailurictis), which must be adopted, unless it prove, 

 as I have suggested in part v. of the ' Catalogue,' that Cope's Nim- 

 ravus is not generically separable. The name Sti/lodon, I am 

 informed by Dr. G. Baur, is preoccupied by H. Beck in 1838 for a 

 genus of Gastropoda in the work entitled ' Index MoUuscorum prse- 

 sentis sevi, Mus. Christiani Frederici,' faso. i., Hafnite. Since, how- 

 ever. Prof. Marsh's genus Sfylacodon is probably not distinct from 

 Owen's Stylodon, I think that this name may be at least pro- 

 visionally adopted for the English genus, and in any case the name 

 of the family may be changed from Stylodontidas to Stylacodontidte, 

 Finally, I gather from Dr. Eojer's recently published ' List of 

 Fossil Mammalia ' that Dr. M. Schlosser proposes to substitute the 

 name Haplogale for my genus ^Auropsis (which I have placed in 

 the Felidaj). This substitution appears to rest on the existence of 

 the name j^lurops (Ailurops) ; but since the names ^Eluropsis 

 and ^lurops are founded upon totally different Greek words, I con- 

 sider that it is unnecessary. 



On the Collection of Starfishes formed hy the Cape-Horn Scientific 

 Commission. By M. E. Perkier. 



The collection of starfishes brought back by the scientific com- 

 mission which remained in the region of Cape Horn during the 

 years 1882 and 1883 includes no fewer than 553 specimens belonging 

 to 38 species, of which 23 are new and 32 were wanting in the 

 collections of the museum. This brings up to 57 the number of 

 species of starfishes referred to the southern point of America. The 

 examination of the numerous specimens which I have been able to 

 observe in the collection of the museum shows great variability in 

 each species in relation to the extreme diversity of conditions of 

 existence presented to nearly sedentary animals by these coasts, 

 which are so much broken up. It seems probable that of the 

 species described a certain niimber will have to descend to the rank 

 of simple varieties. Some among the 50 specimens of Asterias sul- 

 cifera which have been sent to me appear to approach A. Brandti, 



