498 



PROF. A. MACALISTER ON 



[Mar. 19, 



anterior two thirds are much darker than the posterior third, and 

 the hairs in the latter area have not the dark roots that those in 

 front exhibit. The tips of the hairs on the sides are much lighter 

 than on the back, and the roots of the lateral hairs are darker than 

 the median. Dr. Murie's description of the wavy lines seen here 

 and there, where a preponderance of the dark or light tints run side 

 by side, is perfectly applicable to my specimen. The rufous tints 

 noticed by him in the hairs of the rather truncated posterior ex- 

 tremity of the body, as well as the description of the hairs in this 

 region, are also true of the individual under notice. 



The hairs of the underside of the neck are white and silvery, 

 diverging from the rather darker median line ; and there are one or 

 two blackish spots on the side of the abdomen. The facial surface 

 agrees with Dr. Murie's specimen in having the dark spots at the 

 inner and outer canthi, the former being much the larger ; there are 

 also the whitish-grey spots above and below the eye, the lower being 

 of the two the better defined. There is, however, no blackish or 

 dark spot in the centre of the forehead and between the eyes, as 

 Murie found in his specimen. All the strong hairs of the eyebrow, 

 eyelash, and whiskers are black ; there are no whitish ones inter- 

 mingled. The tip of the nose is covered with silvery-white adpressed 

 hairs ; the left nostril is margined on its inner side by a large spot of 

 brown hairs, the right is surrounded by whitish hairs. The dark 

 spot under the chin noticed by Murie is well marked ; and the ears 

 have also the white tufts on their outer sides. The head-measure- 

 ments also correspond, as follows : — 



Length from snout to occiput ... 

 Length from nose to root of ear 



Girth above eyes 



Breadth between inner canthi ... 

 Breadth between outer canthi . . . 

 Breadth botween roots of ears. . . 



Breadth of ears 



Breadth of muzzle 



Length of ears 



From these considerations it will be seen that my specimen is in 

 the main identical with Dr. Murie's Wombat, and that slight varia- 

 tions in colour are not of great importance in this species. 



The skull varies in some particulars from the descriptions given 

 either by Professor Owen (T. Z. S. vol. iii. p. 303) or by Dr. Murie 

 (Joe. cit. p. 842) — which is interesting, as these two hitherto de- 

 scribed skulls do not precisely agree with each other in all particu- 

 lars. I have therefore given an account of the divergences. Like 

 Dr. Murie's, my specimen was young — apparently still younger 

 than his ; and all the sutures are particularly distinct, not oblite- 

 rated as in Professor Owen's. The following are the measurements 



