354 ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY. [part hi. 



utan, and Paguma, one of the Viverridae, in common with 

 Sumatra ; as well as Rhinosciurus, a peculiar form of squirrel, and 

 Hemigalea, one of the Viverridse, in common with Malacca. 

 Sumatra has only one genus not found in any other Malayan 

 district — Nemorhedus, a form of antelope which occurs again 

 in North India. It also has Siamanga in common with Malacca, 

 Mydaus with Java, and Rhizomys with India. The Malay Penin- 

 sula seems to have no peculiar forms of Mammalia, though 

 it is rich in all the characteristic Malay types. 



The bats of the various islands have been very unequally 

 collected, 36 species being recorded from Java, 23 from Sumatra, 

 but only 16 each from Borneo and Malacca. Leaving these out 

 of consideration, and taking into account the terrestrial mam- 

 mals only, we find that Java is the poorest in species, while 

 Borneo, Sumatra, and Malacca are tolerably equal ; the numbers 

 being 55, 62, 66, and 65 respectively. Of these we find that 

 the species confined to each island or district are (in the same 

 order) 6, 16, 5, and 6. It thus appears that Borneo is, in its 

 mammalia, the most isolated and peculiar ; next comes Sumatra, 

 and then Malacca and Java, as shown by the following table. 



Peculiar 

 Species. 



16 



5 



6 



6 



This result differs from that which we have arrived at by the 

 more detailed consideration of the fauna of Java ; and it serves 

 to show that the estimate of a country by the number of its 

 peculiar genera and species alone, may not always represent its 

 true zoological importance or its most marked features. Java, 

 as we have seen, is differentiated from the other three districts 

 by the absence of numerous types common to them all, and by 

 its independent continental relations. Borneo is also well dis- 

 tinguished by its peculiar genera and specific types, yet it is at 

 the same time more closely related to Sumatra and Malacca 

 than is Java. The two islands have evidently had a very 

 different history, which a detailed knowledge of their geology 



