1844.] Notices of various Mammalia. 487 



obtusely angulated behind ; and there is a slight fold of membrane 

 exterior to the nostrils. Ears large, and of the usual form, measuring 

 nearly five-eighths of an inch from anteal base to tip, and having a 

 well developed anti-helix. General hue pale isabella-brown, the 

 fur of the upper parts tinged with dull maronne towards the tips, im- 

 parting a shade of that colour; under-parts still lighter, and the fur 

 shorter: membranes apparently dark. Length an inch and three- 

 quarters ; of tail half an inch more; and extent about nine inches : fore- 

 arm an inch and five-eighths, longest finger two and a quarter, 

 and tibia above five-eighths of an inch. The specimen (in spirits), and 

 an injured skin of apparently the same species, were both probably 

 obtained in the vicinity of Calcutta. 



Hipposideros, Gray. This seems a perfectly distinct group, charac- 

 terized by a totally different form of facial crest from that observable 

 in the preceding series. The general form of this is quadrate, sur- 

 mounted by a short and broad transverse membrane recurved along 

 the edge, and over this, in the males (I suspect always,) is a round 

 sinus or cavity with a transverse semicircular opening. " This cavity," 

 remarks Mr. Elliot, " the animal can turn out at pleasure, like the 

 finger of a glove ; it is lined with a pencil of stiff hairs, and secretes a 

 yellow substance like wax. When alarmed, the animal opens this 

 cavity and blows it out, during which it is protruded and withdrawn 

 at each breathing. Temminck notices it under the name of a syphon, 

 or purse, in Rh. insignis and Rh, speoris" fapud Geoffroy)*. The entire 

 facial crest has been well compared by Mr. Hodgson to " a coat of 

 arms, with double field" ; the superior and inferior fields separated by 

 a trilobate fleshy ridge, below which are situate the nostrils in a deep 

 cavity, surrounded by the membrane which forms the lower field, both 

 within and exterior to which are, in some species, additional laminae 

 of membrane. The ears in this group are, in general, less apiculated, 

 and sometimes rounded, and the conch is not continued round to form 

 an anti-helix. 



* It is probable that the development of this sinus, and also of the throat-sac of the 

 Tapkozoi, depends much on season, like the infra-orbital cavities of various ruminants 

 and analogous glandulous follicles in many other animals. 



