24 Christmas Island, 



l3readth 5 mm. Canines short, 5 mm. from cingulum to tip behind, 

 thin, and acutely pointed ; their postero - internal basal ledge 

 proportionally rather broad. Anterior premolars minute or absent. 

 Posterior premolars and first molar short, evenly oval in section ; 

 the surface of the molars and last premolar singularlj^ smooth and 

 rounded ; the cusps but little developed, and merely consisting 

 of low rounded ridges ; last molar circular in section, rather larger 

 than one of the outer incisors, about 1*5 mm. in diameter. 



"Lower incisors small, separated in the centre, the inner about 

 half the size of the outer, the combined diameters of those of each 

 side 2 mm. Canines proportionally still shorter than in the upper 

 jaw, 3 "5 mm. from cingulum to tip behind ; their basal ledge broad. 

 Anterior premolar very large, nearly filling up the space between 

 the canine and second premolar, its size in cross section nearly 

 equal to that of the canine. Molars smooth and rounded, as in 

 the upper jaw. Last molar in section about one-third the size 

 of the anterior premolar, and three - quarters that of the last 

 upper molar. 



" Dimensions of the type, specimen a, an adult female in spirit : 

 Head and body, 210 mm. ; head, 61 ; muzzle, 22 ; ear, above crown, 

 26; from notch at base, 28; forearm, 127 ( = 5*0 inches); thumb, 

 without claw, 43; index finger, 90; tibia, 62; calcaneum, 21. 



"Skull: Basal length, 52mm.; greatest breadth, 30; supra- 

 orbital foramen to tip of nasals, 24*5 ; interorbital breadth, 6*5 ; 

 intertemporal breadth, 5*0 ; breadth from tip to tip of postorbital 

 processes, 19" 1 ; palate, length 32, breadth outside first molar 16*0 ; 

 length of first molar 5*0. 



"It is unfortunate that of this new species the only specimens 

 of any use for description are females, since it might happen that, 

 as is sometimes the case in Ft. mcobaricus, while the females are 

 wholly black, the males have the usual j^ellow or orange tippet. 

 It is therefore much to be hoped that male specimens will soon be 

 obtained and the point settled. In any case, however. Ft. natalis 

 is a very well-marked species. From Ft. nicolaricus it may be 

 distinguished by its much smaller size and smaller, shorter molars, 

 and especially by its much shorter and feebler canines, the latter 

 character, in fact, distinguishing it from all the other allied species 

 except Ft. lombocensis. Ft. pselaphon, another woolly -black species 

 of about the same size, a native of Benin, may be separated at 

 once by its hairy legs, the hind limbs being closely haired right 

 down to the feet. Ft. gouldi, also generally black, has a forearm 

 165 mm. long, and has also large teeth and long canines bearing 

 no resemblance to those of the present species. 



" On the whole Ft. natalis seems to be most nearly allied to 

 Ft. lombocensis, Dobs.,^ as yet only known from Lombock, which 



1 Cat. Chir. B.M., p. 34 (1878). 



