S. ERYTHROGENOIDES. 453 



it. at sigmoid notch, 0'45 in. Ditto from condyle to lower margin near angle, 

 0'.5'2 in. Ditto of ramus at last molar, inner surface, to alveolar border, 0'33 in. 

 Ditto of ramus at secondmolar, inner surface, to ditto, 0'33 in. Ditto at outer edge 

 of first molar to alveolar border, 023 in. Ditto of ramus, where constricted, close 

 behind the suture, 0'2 in. Ditto of masseteric disc, under last molar, 0'31 in. Width 

 of ascending ramus from sinus behind to coronoid margin at alveolar border, 0"45 in. 

 Length from anterior border of masseteric disc to tip of incisive sheath, 0'45 in. 



June 2, 1858. — Compared the Taunton Spermophilus with all the 

 specimens in the British Museum, viz. : Sp. eryihrogenys (PI. XXXV. 

 figs. 8 and 9) of Siberia ; Sp. musogaricus of the Altai mountains ; Sp. 

 lateralis of N. America ; Sp. Douglasii, Sp. Harrisii of N. America ; 

 Sp. concolor (Souslik) of Moldavia (PI. XXXV. figs. 4 and 5) ; Sp. 

 Parryi of N. America; Sp. Eversmanii of the Altai mountains (PI. 

 XXXV. figs. 6 and 7) ; and Sp. Franklinii. The jaw of Sp. Franklinii 

 is of the same size, but the body is deeper and the sigmoid notch 

 shallower. On the whole, the fossil approaches nearest to Sp. erythro- 

 genys, although the teeth are larger. 



November 12, 1859. — Again compared the Taunton Spermophilus 

 with the skulls in the British Museum, along with Gerrard. The fossil 

 is certainly a Spermophilus. It differs from the Souslik specimen (*S^. 

 concolor) in being as long to the tip of the incisive sheath, as the latter 

 is to the tip of the incisives ; three teeth also in the fossil are equal in 

 length to four in S. concolor. The fossil agrees most nearly in form 

 and size with the S. eryihrogenys of Siberia (Pi. XXXV. figs. 8 and 

 9). It has the same bold masseteric disc, and the form of the coronoid 

 is the same, but it is a little larger. The fossil differs from the S. 

 Eversmanii of the Altai mountains in being a little larger. The form 

 of the coronoid and the sigmoid notch, however, are exactly alike. In 

 S. eryihrogenys the coronoid is more erect than in the fossil from 

 Taunton, and the notch differently formed. 



July 27, 1860. — Mr. Waterhouse compared the Mendip Spermophilus 

 with the European and N. American specimens in the Osteological 

 collection of the British Museum, and found it nearest to S. eryihrogenys, 

 but the teeth are larger, and the fore and aft diameter relatively 

 greater. The length of the line occupied by four molars in S. erythro- 

 genys is - 4 in. ; in the Mendip specimen it is "52 in. Mr. Waterhouse 

 considers the fossil wholly different from all the other species. I will 

 call it Spermophilus erythrogenoid.es. 



[On Nov. 28, 1862, Dr. Falconer received from Dr. H. P. Black- 

 more of Salisbury, a letter enclosing sketches of a Spermophilus found 

 by him in the Pleistocene clay at Fisherton, near Salisbury. The 

 remains of as many as twelve individuals had been found. The frontal 

 bone was flattened and depressed, the superciliary ridges elevated, 

 forming strong post-orbital processes extending backwards, as in the 

 Spermophilus sziperciliosus of Kaup. On Dec. 20, 1862, Dr. Falconer 

 took the drawings to the British Museum and made the following 

 note. — Ed.] 



' Compared the drawing from Salisbury (PI. XXXV. fig. 10). None 

 of the lower jaws of the living species have the slender reclinate pedicle 

 to the condyle as in the fossil, nor the same erect stumpy coronoid (is 

 it entire in the fossil ?) ; but S. musogaricus from the Altai has got the 

 brow concave between the frontals, with elevated superciliary ridges, as 

 in Kaup's S. superciliosus. The horizontal condyle of the fossil differs 



