250 VR- c. I. FORSYTH MAJOR ON [Mar. 19, 



one or more other forms, quite certainly to one other species ; 

 and this has been going on to the present day', although 

 A. Wagner, Schlegel, and P. L. Sclater had, in succession, arrived 

 at the truth. Sclater, moreover, was the first to point out that, 

 as in some other species of the genus, the sexes have a diiferent 

 coloration in the true L. mongoz. 



To begin with the description of" The Mougooz " by Gr. Edwards. 



" The Mongooz is less than a small cat. This was a female. — 

 The head of this animal is shaped much like that of a fox, and is 

 wholly covered with hair : the eyes are black, with orange-coloured 

 irides, or circles round the eyes : the hair is black and joins 

 between the eyes, tending downwards in a point toward the 

 nose, which is also black; but there is a space between the eyes 

 and nose purely white, which reaches under the eyes, on the sides 

 of the head. The upper part of the head, neck, back, tail, and 

 limbs is of a dark-brownish ash-colour, the hair being something 

 woolly ; the underside of the body is white . . . . ; all the paws are 

 covered with short hair of a light ash-colour ; the tail is long, the 

 hair is pretty thick and soft, and appears to have a mixture of 

 lighter and darker parts all over the body." 



That E. Greoffroy Saint-Hilaire's Lemur albimanus is a synonym 

 of L. mongoz was not recognized at the time, because the species 

 was founded apparently upon a male specimen, as results from the 

 description of the coloration -. 



Possibly for the same reason Er. Cuvier's excellent description 

 of the " Mongovs cV Anjouan" has been generally overlooked : — 



" J'ai eu en meme temps deux males et deux femelles de 

 Mongous, auxquels la description que je viens de donner convenait 

 e'galement sous tous les rapports. Mais j'ai possede un male qui 

 avait avec ces animaux la plus grande ressemblance, et qui en 

 differait cependant par quelques points assez rem.arquables pour 

 que je croie devoir le faire connaitre ici. 



" Ce Maki avait ete emmene d'Anjouau .... II etait male et 

 tres-adulte, toutes les parties superieui-es de son corps, et le 

 sommet de la tete lui-meme, etaient d'un gris jaunatre, resultant 

 de polls alternativement colores sur leur longueur, de gris sale et de 

 noir ; ce gris etait plus pur sur les jambes de devant, et sur les cotes 



^ Cf. e.g. A. Milne-Edwards and E. Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. d'Hist. 

 Nat. (2) X. p. 22 (1888).— A. Grandidier et A. Milne-Edwards, Hist. Nat. des 

 Mammit'eres (Hist. . . . de Madagasrar, ed. A. Grandidier), v. Atlas ii. pis. 133- 

 153 (1890).— F. A. Jeutink, Mus. d'Hist. Nat des Pays-Bas, xi. Oat. Syst. des 

 Mammiferes, pp. 68-72 (1892).— H. O. Forbes, A Handbook to the Primates, 

 i. pp. 71-73 (1894).— Trouessart, Catal. Mamm. tam viv. quam foss. i. p. 57 

 (1898-99). 



^ " Pelage gris-brun en dessus : polls d'un roux cannelle sur les cotes du cou : 

 poitrine blanche : ventre roussatre : mains blanches " (GeofiVoy Saint-Hilaire, 

 Tableau des Quadrumanes, Ann. Mus. d'Hist. Nat. xix. p. 160, 1812).—" Gris 

 en dessus avec la gorge et la poitrine blanches, le ventre roussatre ; fraise d'un 

 roux cannelle se prolongeant superieurement assez pour entourer I'oreille. 

 Ce dernier caractere distingue mieux I'espece que la couleur des mains, qui sont 

 blanchatres ou d'un fauve sale " (I. Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, Catalogue metho- 

 dique. p. 72. 1851). 



