1861.] MR. R. F. TOMES ON MAMMALS FROM JAMAICA. 67 



being, on the contrary, acute. The tragus is placed deep in the 

 cavity of the ear, and is difficult to see ; it is rather short, and of a 

 peculiar form. Of medium breadth at the -base, it expands on each 

 side for a distance of a little more than half its length, and from this 

 its widest part it decreases rapidly to a blunt point, from which 

 spring a few long, fine, frizzled hairs. Near the base of the outer 

 margin is a blunt angular projection ; and in its opposite edge are 

 two nicks, the one below its point of greatest breadth, and the other 

 above it, leaving a kind of rounded lobe between them. Of these 

 nicks (they scarcely deserve the name of notches), the lower one is 

 the deeper. But the most remarkable feature in the tragus is the 

 manner in which it strides over or embraces the meatus auditorius. 

 Usually this passage passes under the tragus, from behind, near to its 

 outer edge ; but in this species* the outer thin edge is split longitu- 

 dinally at its base into two layers, one of which is in front of the 

 meatus, and the other behind it, the latter being the smaller of the 

 two. Thus the outer edge of the tragus may be said to stand astride 

 of the meatus. 



The thumb is of moderate length, and its basal phalange is rather 

 shorter than the penultimate one. The antibrachial membrane is 

 rather ample near the body, but disappears before reaching the 

 thumb. The feet are rather long, the toes being half their length ; 

 and the claws are strong and much curved. The wing-membranes 

 extend to the distal extremity of the tibia, over which they pass, and 

 are attached to the root of the calcaneum, just as in Nataliis and 

 Mormoops. 



The tail extends barely to the middle of the interfemoral mem- 

 brane ; and scarcely one-half of it is free above the membrane. 



The ears are very hairy inside near their base, i. e. in front of the 

 tragus, but not elsewhere, either inside or out. The fur of the fore- 

 head extends uninterruptedly forward to the posterior facial promi- 

 nence, which it leaves free ; but on the sides of the face it comes a 

 little more forward, and forms two very conspicuous tufts of hair, 

 which are thick, long, and straight, and have a forward direction, 

 their points being quite as far forward as the end of the nose. Ver- 

 tically these tufts of hair extend from the edge of the upper lip 

 almost on to the top of the nose. The membranes are everywhere 

 destitute of hair ; they are finely reticulated and dotted near the sides 

 of the body, the base of the interfemoral membrane, and the inter- 

 brachial membrane ; under the distal extremity of the humerus they 

 are broadly reticulated ; the remaining parts of the membrane, i. e. 

 those nearest the extremities, are nearly destitute of markings. 



The fur of all the uj)per parts is short and shining, though not 

 very fine ; its general hue is dark grey-brown ; it is indistinctly tri- 

 coloured — being dusky at the roots, then of a shining grey, and its 

 tips dark greyish-brown ; beneath, it is of two colours — dusky at the 

 roots, its terminal half whitish-brown, without gloss, and palest along 

 the middle of the abdomen. The cutaneous system is dark brown. 



* I have iiol cxaraineil the tragus of any olher species of Chilomjctcris. 



