OBTAINED IK EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN. 305 



apparently cospecific with Tiector, but ticketed Java *, to whicli 

 he gave the name priamus, apparently on account of the differeuce 

 of locality. 



In this case then we have to deal with (1) an Algerian form 

 priamus { = hector)\ (2) a Lower Egyptian form lihycus {=melano- 

 physa) ; (3) an Upper Egyptian and Nubian form citrinus ; and 

 (4) a Nubian form funestus. Now clearly the question that 

 Prof. Kraepelin ought to have asked himself with regard to these 

 so-called species is : — " Do they breed true in their own territories, 

 or do citrinus parents produce indiscriminately some offspring 

 like themselves and some presenting the characters of priamus 

 and vice versa ? " If the latter were so, then there would 

 be justification for the view that the species are invalid. But 

 he does not furnish us with a particle of evidence that such 

 is the case. If even he had examined specimens from all over 

 N. Africa and could show that, e. g., the citrinus-iorm and the 

 priamus-iorm are linked by such a fine series of gradations that 

 it is impossible to say where one begins and the other ends, 

 then no one would have remonstrated with him for stating that 

 they are the same species. But we look in vain through his 

 ' Eevision ' for any evidence to establish such a conclusion, and 

 we actually cannot find out where the specimens he had under 

 his hands came from. We are consequently compelled to accept 

 or reject the authoritative statement that there is only one yellow 

 species of Prionuriis inhabiting North Africa, without being 

 able to discover upon what evidence such a statement rests. 



But the splendid material of Prionurus brought by Dr. John 

 Anderson from Algeria and Egypt afi"ords me good grounds for 

 thinking, firstly, that P. citrinus is a distinct species from 

 P. lilycus, and secondly, that P. lilycus, although very closely 

 related to P. priamus, is not quite the same thing. I think it 

 likely that the distinctions between the two will break down 

 when we know more of the Prionuri which inhabit the countries 

 lying between Algeria on the west and Egypt on the east. But 

 provisionally they may be regarded as subspecies of aiistralis of 

 Linnaeus, although what australis of Linnaeus may be, in the 

 strictest sense of the word, is more than I can tell. Thorell, who 

 has seen the type of australis, says that it is specifically identical 



'^ This is of course not the correct locality. If we are to trust C. Koch's works, 

 Java is a much faToured island so far as Scorpions are concerned, having, in addi- 

 tion to its own population, aliens from most of the other quarters of the globe. 



