1867.] DR. J. E. GRAY ON THE TAPIRID.E. HSt 



skull figured by M. de Blainville in his ' Osteographie,' t. 3, as that 

 of Tapirus americanus agrees much better with this skull than with 

 any of our skulls of T. americanus, as, in this skull, the face is more 

 elongated and slender. The upper line of the central crest of the 

 skull is regularly arched, and not arched in front and with a nearly 

 straight line on the hinder part of the crown. It differs from the 

 skull of 7'. lauriUardi in the nasal bones being long, taperino-, and 

 acute, as in the skull of the normal T. americanus. 



The length of the space between the hinder edge of tiie canine 

 and the front edge of the first grinder in the figure agrees with that 

 found in the T. americanus ; that is to say, it is only rather longer 

 than the length of the first two grinders. 



There^is a skull of an American Tapir in the Museum of the Col- 

 lege of Surgeons which is rather more elongate than the rest of the 

 skulls ; and in this respect it bears some resemblance to the skull of 

 Tapirus lauriUardi. 



2. Tapirus laurillardi. (Fig. A.) 



Skull with a high, regularly-arched crest over the brain-case ; the 

 nasal bones over the back of the orbit very short, broad, broader 

 than long, and with rounded ends ; the front edge of the cavity of 

 the internal nostrils in a line with the middle of the last or seventh 

 grinder in the complete series ; the face rather elongate, the space 

 between the canines and the grinders as long as the length of the 

 outer- side of the first three grinders ; the front part of the nasal 

 aperture suddenly contracted, and then continued as a narrow linear 

 groove to the front of the nose ; the occipital end of the skull tri- 

 angular, arched, higher than broad ; the lower edge of the lower jaw 

 slightly arched, the front part rather produced and contracted ; the 

 grinders are rather small, the complete series being about i inch 

 shorter than in the former species, being 5| inches in T. laurii- 

 lardii, and 5| in T. terrestris. 



The skull here described was purchased of Mr. Brandt of Ham- 

 burg in 18.i2 as that of " Tapirus americanus from South America " 

 without any more special habitat. I know that Mr. Brandt had' a 

 collector in Venezuela ; so it may be he who " shot and skinned him- 

 self" — that is, the animals from that country; and Dr. Seemann 

 says he has seen many Tapirs in that province. 



I have named this species after M. Laurillard, the Assistant in the 

 Museum of Comparative Anatomy of Paris, who made most of the 

 drawings of M. Cuvier's ' Ossemens Fossiles.' He was a most kind, 

 attentive, modest man, who was always wiUing to give assistance to 

 all students, and devoted much time to assist others in their labours; 

 it is to his industry and accuracy that great part of the value of the 

 ' Ossemens Fossiles ' is to be attributed. I am personally indebted 

 to him for great kindness and an unceasing desire to facilitate any 

 researches that I might have in hand. He was one of those men 

 who seem satisfied— so that the work of science progressed, any one 

 might claim the reputation of doing it; and few men have 'done 

 more for osteology and palaeontology than M. Laurillard. 



