264 DB- c. I. FOESYTH MAJOR oiT [Mar. 19, 



of the same as G-ray's species, and have never met with a 

 black male. 



(3) According to Scblegel's view, Gray's Prosimia rufipes is a 



synonym of I. Geoffroy S.-H.'s Lemur ruhrivenier and Lemur 

 flaviventer, the latter being the female, the former the male 

 form. The difference in coloralion between the sexes of 

 Lemur ruhrivenier — which name antedates Prosimia rufipes 

 — would therefore appear merely to consist in a lighter 

 coloration of the underparts in the female. 

 This view I found to be supported by my own material also. 



(4) In the specimens collected by myself, the iris is yellow and 



not greenish blue, as is the case, according to Milne- 

 Edwards, with Lemur nigerrimus. 



(5) The skull of one of the two types of Prosimia rufip)es\ 



which agrees perfectly with those collected by myself, is 

 very different from the skull of L. nigerrimus figured in 

 the ' Hist. Nat. de Madagascar.' 



The conclusion was that Gray's Prosimia rufipes, which is I. Geof- 

 frey's Lemur ruhriventer oxid. L.fxiviv enter, is a very different species 

 from Lemur nigerrimus. Not having seen the types of i. ruhri- 

 venter and flaviventer, nor any specimen of L. nigerrimus, I ex- 

 pressed myself in perhaps too cautious a manner, although at that 

 time already the matter was settled in my opinion. Thereby I 

 did not wish in the least to cast a doubt on Milne-Edvvards's 

 statement with regard to the colour of the female Lemur nigerrimus. 

 His mistake is easily explained by the circumstance that in the 

 description of the types oi Prosimia rufipes none of the very charac- 

 teristic features of the species are mentioned : the accompanying 

 plates are inaccurate even with regard to the coloration. 



I have, since the date of my first note, been able to examine 

 (1) a couple of Lemur rubriventer, deposited some time ago in the 

 Society's Gardens by the Hon. Walter Rothschild ; (2) one of the 

 types of Geoffrey's Lemur fi,aviv enter, in the Ley den Museum, it 

 was obtained in 1834 by Bernier and received in 1835 from the 

 Paris Museum ; (3) a skull of the adult male of Lemur nigerrimus, 

 presented last year by Mr. Stanley Flower to the Natural History 

 Museum. 



From an inspection of the individuals living in the Gardens, any 

 one may convince himself that the male of Lemur rubriventer is 

 not black ; and that the iris in both is yellow, and not greenish 

 blue as in I^emur nigerrimus according to Milne-Edwards. A 

 third point which needed explanation, is elucidated by them. In 

 a recent book on Primates— in which, by the way, quite a number 

 of original observations are embodied, although it does not pretend 

 to be more than a compilation — the description of the male of 

 Lemur rubriventer contains the following: "a ring round the eyes 

 cobalt-blue " ^. This peculiar statement is easily traceable back to 



^ The skull has not been taken out of the second mounted specimen. 

 2 H. 0. Forbes, A Handbook to the Primates, i. p. 76 (1894). 



