8 PBOFESSOR ALLMAN ON THE CHAEACTERS 



ridan genus Cynofjale — a resemblance which did not escape Mr. Du Chaillu, and which, 

 doubtless, decided him in referring his animal to that genus. 



The characters thus presented by Fotamogale velox would justify a belief -in the 

 aquatic habits of the animal. Indeed it is scarcely possible to connect A\'ith any other 

 mode of life the valvular nostrils, and broad, strong, vertically flattened tail, with (as 

 will be presently seen) its greatly developed haemal arches. The trenchant incisors and 

 premolars, so like the teeth of a shark, also point to the same conclusion, and indicate 

 a diet exceptional among the Insectivora*. 



Skeleton. (Plate II.) 



Cervical liet/ion. — The transverse process of the atlas is broad and flattened horizon- 

 tally. The neural spine is reduced to a mere tubercle. The body of the axis is carinated 

 below ; its transvei-se processes are short, narrow, and directed backwards, while the 

 neural spine forms a large, vertical, laterally compressed, sharp-edged, and hatchet- 

 shaped plate. In the third cervical, the transverse process is longer and thicker. In 

 the fourth and fifth, the pleurapophysis forms a flat process coalescent with the diapo- 

 physis, and extends forwards with a sharp angle, so as to slightly underlap the vertebra 

 in front ; while in the sixth it becomes much larger and hatched-shaped, and extends 

 backwards so as to underlap the seventh. The transverse process of the seventh has 

 no canal for the vertebral artery, and consists of a simple stiliform diapophysis. The 

 neural spines of the third, fourth, and flfth cer\ical are very short, those of the sixth 

 and seventh longer. From tlie inferior surface of the body of the third, foiu-th, and 

 flfth cervical a prominent hypapophysis is developed, which becomes smaller in the sixth 

 and seventh. 



Dorsal and lumbar Region. — There are sixteen, dorsal and five lumbar vertebse. The 

 commencement of a metapophysis shows itself in the second dorsal, acquires greater 

 length in the third, still greater in the fourth, and then continues of equal length as a 

 long blunt process on every vertebra as far as the twelfth ; on the thirteenth dorsal it 

 becomes shorter, and is here associated with a short anapophysis, and then continues 

 of the same length, but broader, on the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth dorsal, and 

 on the whole of the lumbar. On the last three dorsal vertebrae the anapophysis 



* The account wliich Mr. Du Chaillu {he. cit.) has given us of the habits of his Fotamogale velox is entirely 

 in accordance with what the structure of the auimal would suggest. " This extraordinary animal," he says, 

 " is found in the mountains of the interior, or in the hilly country explored by me north and south of the 

 equator. It is found along the water-courses of limpid and clear streams, where fish are abundant ; it hides 

 under rocks along these streams, lying in wait for fish. It swims through the water with a rapidity which 

 astonished me ; before the fish has time to move, it is caught. On account of the rapidity of its movements, 

 I have given it the specific name of velox. The auimal returns to land with its prey almost as rapidly as it 

 started from its place of concealment. The great motive power of the ammal in the water seems to be in 

 i);s tail." 



