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Show 1879.] MR. E. R. ALSTON ON THE BRITISH MARTENS. 471 that the most striking and trustworthy of the characters enumerated above are, externally, the colour of the under fur, and, internally, the comparative breadth of the skull and the shape of the upper molar '. Having thus cleared the ground as to the synonymy and distinguishing marks of the two European Martens, we come to the question whether both of them inhabit our own islands. Every Skull of M. sylvatica. work hitherto published on the British fauna has either stated or assumed that both forms are natives ; and almost every one has represented the white-breasted Martes foina (the C o m m o n Marten of the Continent) as being also the prevailing species in Britain. Several, however, of our best zoologists have expressed grave doubts as to the specific distinction of the two forms, or have even denied that they could be separated as constant varieties. This will be evident from a glance at the pages of the principal writers on the subject. 1 It should be observed that Dr. SevertzofF has stated that our European Martens are " not fully differentiated " in Eastern Turkestan, and has described some skins which he saw there as a new species, Mustela intermedia (Turke-stanskie Jevotnie, p. 80 ; Ann. & Mag. Nat, Hist. 4th ser. xviii. p. 46); but as he obtained no skulls, much weight cannot be laid on his observations. |