366 DK. C. I. FOESYTH MAJOR ON THE [Mar. 16, 



With the latter, the Madagascar Hog, which is the smallest of the 

 three, agrees in the more simple pattern of the molar teeth. It 

 approaches P. cliceropotamus, besides in outer appearance, in the 

 general configuration of the skull, which is narrower and com- 

 paratively longer ; the upper contour of the profile is straighter 

 in both than in P. porcus, the occiput less vertical, the facial region 

 more elongate, and the osseous callosit}^ which rises above and 

 behind the upper caniues is always higher. The characters proper 

 to the Malagasy species are the great slenderness of the snout, the 

 nasal region not being flattened nor angular laterally, but rounded 

 off, and the great massiveness and simplicity of the premolars. 

 The lower premolars have an even greater tendency to disappear 

 than in the continental forms, so that in old animals we sometimes 

 meet with only one premolar. 



Tor all these reasons 1 consider the INIalagasy Wild Hog to be a 

 quite distinct form, and I therefore do not see any real reasons for 

 disputing the hvpothesis of Blanford. Besides, we have in Mada- 

 gascar the subfossil Hippopotamus, which is very distinct from 

 H. amphibnis, and the presence of which in the island cannot, in 

 my opinion, possibly be explained in any other way than the case 

 of the Potainochoerus, although it has seriously been suggested that 

 the Hipiiopotamus might possibly have been brought over by man. 



2. P0TAM0CH(EEUS CHCEEOPOTAMTJS (DesmOuL). 



Under the objectionable name of P. africanus, P. chceropotamus 

 has been stated to range from the Cape through East Africa to 

 British Central Africa and as far north as the Kilima-ujaro. 



From British Central Africa the Natural History Museum has 

 three skins, one without the skull, the other two from immature 

 individuals; they are of a rufous colour, much resembling, as I 

 have mentioned, the Malagasy Wild Boar, so that from the skins 

 alone I could not venture to separate the two forms. 



Two skulls, male and female, from Lake Mw eru (B. C. A.), 

 collected by Messrs. A. Sbarpe and E. Crawshay \ agree fairly well 

 with the South-African P. clioeropotamus, although showing some 

 features of their own, as in the conformation of the apophysis 

 above the canine &c. It is possible that hereafter this rufous 

 Nyasa Hog may be distinguished by a distinct specific name and 

 that the Mweru skulls belong to the same form ; for the present 

 the material is insufficient : on the one side, I have only skulls 

 without skins (Mweru), on the other, skins without, or with only 

 immature, skulls (Zomba, &c.). One thing is certain : all these 

 Nyasa Bush-Pigs approach closely the South-African Potamoclim-ns 

 cJiceropoUtmus ; and I must insist on this point, since some travellers, 

 relying solely on the colour, have united them with the West- 

 Airican P. jjorcus, with which they have nothing to do. 



I cannot, in fact, find a black-skinned Potamochoems mentioned by 



' See P. Z. S. 1893, p. 723. 



