1872.] DR. J. E. GRAY ON THE LEMURINA. 847 



skulls, and I am now more convinced than I was formerly that 

 what had been considered species are merely variations, or breeds, 

 of the same species, which seems to be a very variable one ; at least 

 I have not been able to find any organic character by which they 

 can be separated, either in the colour or external organization, or in 

 the skull. 



The varieties may be tbus divided (and there are specimens of the 

 first five in the British Museum) : — 



1 . edwardsii. Black or blackish, the hinder part of the upper part 



of the body whitish or yellowish. P. edwardsii, Grandidier ; 

 P. bicolor, Gray. 



2. diadema. Grey ; hands, top of head, shoulders and upper part 



of the back black or blackish ; limbs yellowish ; circumference 

 of face white. P. diadema, Bennett. 



3. damonis. White; chest and outer side of the fore and hind limbs 



rusty red. P. damonis, Pollen ; P. coquerellii, M.-Edwards. 



4. verreauxii. White ; crown and nape brownish black. P. ver- 



reauxii, Grandidier. 



5. coronatus. White; circumference of face black ; chest reddish. 



P. coronatus. 



6. deckenii. White, with a small black spot on the back of the 



neck. P. deckenii, Peters, Monatsb. 1870; P. diadema, Peters, 



V. d. Deck. Reis. Ost-Afric. t. i. * 



* 



Thus we see that the colour of the five gradually passes from black 

 to nearly pure white ; and I should not be surprised to receive black 

 specimens without any white, and white specimens without any black. 

 The naked or nakedish part of the skin, seen through the hair, in all 

 the specimens which I have seen is black ; but in several of the more 

 or less white specimens preserved on the Continent, so much white 

 substance is used in the preparation, that the skin appears nearly 

 white ; the white, however, comes off. I suspect that that must be 

 the case with the specimen (P. deckenii) figured by Dr. Peters. 



The fur on the underpart of the body and the inner side of the 

 limbs is very sparse. 



There is in the British Museum a skull of Propithecus diadema, 

 and also of P. edwardsii, P. coronatus, and P. damonis. These 

 skulls vary considerably in size and in the shape of the auricular 

 bullae. That of P. edwardsii is the largest ; and next to it, but 

 rather smaller, is P. diadema ; P. damonis is about the same size, 

 but more conical ; P. coronatus is rather smaller, with a slightly 

 angular ridge behind. In P. edwardsii the forehead between the 

 eyes and rather behind is convex, and the brain-case appears some- 

 what more ventricose. In P. diadema the forehead is flat or very 

 slightly concave. In P. damonis and P. coronatus the forehead is 

 concave on each side, with a convexity in the middle. In P. coro- 

 natus the nose is much broader and more swollen than in the other 

 three species or varieties ; but the nose of this skull appears to have 



* The British Museum has since received a specimen with greyish black in- 

 stead of white on the forehead (Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1872. s. p. 474). 



