234 MR. V. L. SCLATER ON ANIMALS IN THE MENAGERIE. [Mar. 7, 



cranial characters, it agreed with H. leucura in the shape of the nasal 

 and intermaxillary bones, but that there were some other minor dif- 

 ferences which might be sufficient to confirm the species. 



After being some time in the Gardens, our Orange-quilled Porcu- 

 pines gradually lost the splendid orange-colour in their quills and 

 became undistinguishable in external appearance from other Indian 

 specimens. Under these circumstances, I cannot doubt that the 

 colour of the quills is merely due to some local variation, probably to 

 some particular food which they consume ; and I have therefore re- 

 duced Hystrix malabarica to a synonym with H. leucura *. 



19. Hystrix longicauda, Marsden. 



Under the name Acanthochcerusf grotei Dr. Gray described and 

 figured in 1866 (P. Z. S. p. 306, pi. xxi.) a Porcupine then lately 

 received by the Society from Mr. Arthur Grote, F.Z.S. Dr. Gray 

 gives the locality of this animal as " India ; " but upon application 

 to the donor I ascertained that it had really been received from Ma- 

 lacca, having been procured for Mr. Grote from the jungles of that 

 settlement by Capt. Maddison, of one of the Straits Mail Steamers J. 



In 1868 (July 20) Mr. Grote presented us with a second specimen 

 of the same Porcupine, obtained from the same locality as the former 

 one. This, as well as the former, is still alive and doing well in the 

 Society's Gardens. 



In such a difficult group as the Porcupines it is prudent to exa- 

 mine specimens perfectly before making many remarks on them. 

 I shall therefore, for the present, merely state that I consider 

 the so-called Acanthochcerus grotei to be the same as the Porcu- 

 pine figured in Marsden's 'Sumatra' (pi. 13. p. 118) us, Hystrix 

 longicauda, and that it has other synonyms. The animals of the 

 settlement of Malacca are well known to be mostly the same as 

 those of Sumatra, so that it would be primd facie probable that 

 the Porcupines of the two countries would be identical. I am 

 aware that Hystrix longicauda is considered by Blyth and Jerdon 

 (Ind. Mamm. p. 221) to be the same as Hystrix hodgsoni of 



* Dr. Jerdon (Mamm. of India, p. 218) follows Mr. Blyth in dividing tbe 

 Crested Porcupines of India into two species, H. leucura and H. bengalensis, and 

 refers H. malabarica to the latter, from information received from Mr. Blyth. 



t As regards the genus Acanthochoirus, it is sufficient to observe that the typical 

 species of this genus (A. bartJetti, Gray, P. Z. S. 1866, p. 310) is based upon a 

 hybrid Porcupine bred in the Surrey Zoological Gardens between H.javanica 

 and H. cristata. Dr. Gray had previously founded his Acanthion flcmingii 

 (P. Z. S. 1847, p. 103) upon another hybrid bred by the same pair of Porcupines. 

 In his last paper on Porcupines (P. Z. S. 1861, p. 307), Dr. Gray states that he 

 "thinks it probable" that there may have been some mistake in the account of 

 the hybridism of these Porcupines which is most circumstantially given by Mr. 

 Waterhouse, Hist. Mamm. ii. p. 307 ; but on referring to Mr. Bartlett, from 

 whom Mr. Waterhouse derived his information, Mr. Bartlett assures me that 

 at the period when he made the inquiries he was assisting Mr. Waterhouse in 

 his work on the Rodents, and that he has no doubt whatever that the information 

 he supplied was correct. It is important that this should be stated in order to 

 save great trouble and perplexity to future workers on the Porcupines. 



% SeeP.Z.S. 1866, p. 417. 



