PTEROPUS JAVANICUS. 
tails and marginated ears, In the latter, I have found in the specimens from Java, 
indications of a new species ; and my inquiries have convinced me that many other 
species still remain to be added to this genus. One of these, which is a native of 
Bengal, was lately communicated to me by Joseph Sabine, Esq.; it is a large 
animal, and belongs to the first subdivision : it agrees with most of the species 
already known, in having a brown collar ; but it possesses distinct characters in the 
peculiar distribution of this collar, and in the shortness and form of its muzzle. 
The Pteropus javanicus is the largest species of the genus hitherto discovered : 
in adult subjects, the extent of the expanded wings is full five feet, and the length of 
the body one foot, In the specimen which I have placed before me in this descrip- 
tion, the extent of the wings was five feet and two inches. The smallest specimen 
in the Museum has an expansion of three feet and ten inches across the wings : all 
the other specimens measure nearly five feet. The length of the arm and forearm 
together, from the union with the body to the origin of the phalanges, is fourteen 
inches ; the latter are distributed as in other species of Pteropus. The naked thumb 
projecting beyond the membrane, measures two inches ; and the claw, which is strong 
and sharp, has an extent of nearly one inch along its curvature. On the index the 
claw is minute, and by the particular inflexion of the phalanges, which was first 
pointed out by M. Geoflroy, and which is carefully represented on the Plate, it 
obtains a direction opposed to the plane of the membrane. The length of the 
posterior extremities is eight inches and an half. The toes, which are slender, 
compressed, and distinct, agree in size, with the exception of the exterior toe, which 
is almost imperceptibly smaller ; they are disposed on the same plane. The claws 
have nearly the same size and extent of curvature as the claw of the thumb. The 
interfemoral membrane is regularly cut out in a circular manner, and forms a border 
along the inner side of the posterior extremities, about an inch and an half in breadth. 
The head, as in other species of Pteropus, is oblong, and the muzzle compara- 
tively of moderate length : it is very gradually attenuated, and measures less than 
one third of the entire length of the head. The nose is short, somewhat compressed 
at the sides, and deeply emarginated anteriorly : in dried specimens, this organ is 
somewhat contracted within the volume of the bony support of the rostrum. The 
nostrils are round anteriorly, and pass backward by a curve, resembling part of a 
volute. The ears are simple, long, narrow, and acuminate. The eyes, as in other 
species of this genus, are large and prominent, and the hides dark. The gape of 
the mouth terminates under the anterior canthus of the eye, and, in correspondence 
with the length of the muzzle, admits of considerable expansion. The nose projects 
but slightly beyond the jaw, and the lips are narrow, and form a neatly defined 
inclosure of the mouth. No vibrissa; exist, hut a few lengthened, bristly hairs are 
