560 MR. A. MURRAY ON GALAGO MURINUS, [Dec. 13, 



which, according to Voigt (F. Cuvier, Cetaces, p. 244) and Eschricht 

 (Zool.-anat.-phys. Untersuch. u. d. nord. Wallthiere, p. 24), was 

 taken in the Bay of Kiel in December 1801. This supposed evi- 

 dence of the appearance of the Narwhal in the Baltic Sea has there- 

 fore no foundation. 



4. On Galago murinus, Murr. 

 By Andrew Murray, F.L.S. 



In 1859 I described, under the name of Galago murinus, a small 

 Galago, of which I had received a specimen from Old Calabar through 

 my much valued friend the Rev. W. C. Thomson. 



From the description and the figure which was published along 

 with it, Dr. Gray came to the conclusion that the animal I had de- 

 scribed was only the young of Galago demidoffii, Fisch. ; and in 

 1863, in the ' Proceedings' of this Society, he referred to it as syno- 

 nymous with that species, saying " I am induced to suppose that 

 Mr. Murray's Galago murinus from Old Calabar is the young of this 

 species, as the hind foot is figured about 1£ inch long." I should 

 observe that the figure was not very characteristic, and the hind foot 

 is represented in a position which makes it a trifle too long. 



This synonymy is adopted by Mr. St. George Mivart in his paper 

 "on the Crania and Dentition of the Lemuridte"- — I presume, upon 

 the authority of Dr. Gray's conjecture ; and now that it has got into 

 the stream of synonyms, it will of course float on among them, un- 

 less I can drag it out before it has got much headway. 



Having received two additional specimens, both in spirits, I have 

 presented one of them to the Museum of the Royal College of Sur- 

 geons ; the other I have taken out of the spirits and show it to the 

 Fellows of the Society this evening ; and after it has undergone the 

 scrutiny of their inspection it will be deposited in the British Mu- 

 seum. Both specimens, as well as a third which I received some 

 years ago, although all received at different times, are identical in 

 size and appearance. These specimens will speak for themselves, 

 and I leave the characters which may be drawn from them to the 

 appreciation of mammalogists. 



I wish to speak now only to the supposed synonymy with demi- 

 doffii on the score of youth. On that point the case stands thus. 

 Specimens of a Galago of two sizes, not unlike each other, are re- 

 ceived from the same coast, the one being nearly as large as a Rat, 

 the other nearly as small as a Mouse ; the larger is what is known 

 as G. demidoffii ; the smaller what I have described as G. murinus. 



1 . Now my first answer to Dr. Gray's conjecture is, that the ani- 

 mals of both sizes are recognized as distinct species by the natives 

 and missionaries. 



In a supplementary communication which I made regarding their 

 habits, and which was published in the ' Edinburgh New Philoso- 

 phical Journal,' in January 1860, I quoted the following passage 

 from a letter of Mr. Thomson's : — 



