SCIURUS PLANTANI. 



his mission to Siam and Cochin-China, An interesting collection of quadrupeds, 

 birds, and other objects of Natural History, the result of his meritorious labours 

 during the visit of the mission to those countries, has been deposited in the Museum 

 of the Honourable East India Company ; and I have introduced the new species 

 discovered by Dr. Finlayson, in this Catalogue of Indian Sciuri. These materials 

 have also afforded the means of comparing several species previously described. 



Dr. Finlayson embarked for Europe, in the ship the General Hewett, soon after 

 his return to Calcutta, in charge of the Collections. His health was in a precarious 

 state, from the effects of an Indian climate ; and we have to lament that he did not 

 live to return to his native country. 



This species has hitherto been mentioned by Buffon alone, from the following 

 concise notice in P. Tachard's Travels. " Nous y (at Lonpeen, a village situated in 

 the extensive forests of Siam) vimes aussi des Ecureuils, qui ont le poil parfaitement 

 blanc et la peau tres-noire." — Second Voyage du P. Tachard, Paris, 1689, p. 249. 



The following description is extracted from Dr. Finlayson's manuscripts : — " The 

 head and body yellowish white ; the head round ; the cheeks full ; the nose large ; 

 the ears large, plain, not tufted ; the iris dark brown ; the whiskers long and black ; 

 the tail bushy, interspersed with black hairs, and tufted ; palms of the feet black. 

 This is an elegant, lively, and active species of Squirrel, almost perfectly white. 

 The body is about seven inches in length, and the tail is equal in length to the body. 

 The eyes are black and lively; and the animal, though white, has not the leucsethiopic 

 habit common in the animals of Siam. It frequents large trees, feeds on their bark 

 and fruit, and is generally seen upon a tall species of Aleurites. One of the speci- 

 mens was shot by Lieut. Rutherford, on the Islands called Sichang, in the Gulf of 

 Siam." 



Museum of the East India Company. 



8. SCIURUS AFFINIS, Raffies. 



Sc. corpore supra cano fuscoque vario, subtus capite caudasque apice canis, taenia 



lateraU fulvescente, cauda fusco fasciata. 

 Sciurus afRnis, Sir T. S. Hqffies's Cat. of a Zool. Coll. made in Sumatra, 7V. Linn. 



Soc. XIII. p. 259. 



The hairy covering of the upper parts is fulvous brown, with a cast of 

 gray ; it is variegated with delicate transverse bands. The whole of the head, the 



