OCR Text |
Show 1879.] MR. A. H. G A R R O D O N T H E A N A T O M Y O F HELICTIS. 305 anterior margin. The corpora quadrigemina are large, especially front. The cerebellum is just overlapped at its anterior border by the back of the cerebral hemispheres ; otherwise it is quite posterior. The several lemurine resemblances of Tupaia makes the simplicity of its cerebral surface somewhat surprising. 5. Notes on the Anatomy of Helictis subaurantiaca. By A. H. G A R R O D , M.A., F.R.S., Prosector to the Society. [Received March 10, 1879.] (Plate XXIX.) A specimen of Helictis subaurantiaca, from China, purchased the Society on Nov. 26, 1874 \ having died on Nov. 29, 1878, I take the present opportunity of recording some of the most important facts in its visceral anatomy, more on account of the rarity of the animal in this country, than because it presents peculiarities of any kind. It may first be noticed that the skins of this species collected by Mr. Swinhoe, and now in the national collection, seem to have faded very much in their underparts, which, quite in opposition to that naturalist's original account of his species, are a pure white. It may further be mentioned that Helictis is extremely Badger-like in its proportions, gait, and odour. On comparing the skull of the Society's specimen with the small collection of skulls of the genus in the national collection, I found no small difficulty in detecting any intimate resemblance to any. In most of its measurements it agrees exactly with those of H. moschata, as recorded by Dr. Gray 2. In the Society's specimen the skull retained no trace of any sutures, and the lower jaw was considerably diseased, apparently in association with decay of the teeth. I hardly think, however, that extreme old age will account for the peculiarities of the individual under consideration. If differs from other specimens of if. moschata and H. subaurantiaca, and much more resembles H. nipalensis and H. orientalis, in that its zygoma is massive, the premaxillary region short as well as comparatively broad, and the mid-parietal area between the upper margins of the temporal muscular origins decidedly broad. The premolar and molar teeth are heavier than in H. moschata and H. subaurantiaca, lighter than in 27. nipalensis and H. orientalis, with the two former of which species it most agrees in the size of the zygomatic foramen, with the two latter in its situation. i Vide P. Z.S. 1874, p. 666. 2 Catalogue of Carnivorous, Pachydermatous, and Edentate Mammalia in the British Museum, 1869, p. 143. pRoc. ZOOL. Soc-1879, No. XX. 20 |