1871.] 



MR. ST. GEORGE MIVART ON HEMICENTtTES. 



59 



ture specimens only *. Recently both our National Collection and the 

 Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons have been enriched by 

 skeletons of this species, and a very perfect and fully adult specimen 

 in the possession of Mr. E. Gerrard has been very kindly lent me for 

 description and to supply the figures herewith given. 



These specimens have convinced me that the differences between the 

 species now described and Centetes ecaudatus are of sufficient 

 inportance to warrant the elevation of the former into a distinct 

 genus. 



The external characters are so well known already that I shall 

 confine myself to a description of the skeleton and dentition, pointing 

 out the resemblances and differences between these parts in Hemi- 

 centetes and in Centetesf. 



Side view of skull, twice the natural size. 



The skull is even more produced than is that of Centetes, but it 

 is more tapering, more so, indeed, than in any insectivore, even 

 Talpa. Thus, when looked at from above, it is much less cylindrical 

 than in Centetes ; and even when viewed laterally, it is at least as 

 conical from behind forwards, in spite of the absence of the sagittal 

 ridge which is so strongly marked in Centetes. The skull is broadest 

 between the glenoidal surfaces, and then tapers forwards with con- 

 siderable regularity. The orbits are not only incomplete behind, but 

 there is not even any trace of a postfrontal process. Posteriorly 

 the skull is rounded ; but anteriorly the nares slope gently 

 backwards, with a very elongated opening. There is no zygomatic 

 arch, but the maxillary process projects more backwards and less 

 outwards than in Centetes ; it ends in a sharp, rather upwardly 

 inclined point. 



* He says, in ' Magasin de Zoologie,' 1839, p. 16, " il sera de toute Evidence 

 qu'elle n'a ete etablie que sui- de jeunes sujets," and at p. 32, " On ne connait 

 que les caracteres du jeune age." 



t For a description of the skeleton and dentition of Centetes ecaudatus, see the 

 ' Cambridge Journal of Anatomy,' vol. i. (1867) p. 298, and vol. ii. (1868) 

 pp. 138, 139, and 148. 



