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Show 1880.] FROM THE GOTTINGEN MUSEUM. 463 Gottingen Museum in 1847, by Prof. Savi, and was labelled by him 1 Vespertilio savii, Bonap."1; the other is stated to have come from a collection made by Degenhardt at Popayan in the U.S. of Columbia, South America, in 1844. Neither in the general external form and in the dentition, nor in the relative measurements, have I been able to find the least difference of importance between these specimens, except such as depend upon the immature condition of that from Tuscany, which, as shown by the extremities of the finger-bones, had not attained its full size. The following are the measurements of these specimens : - Tuscany. Popayan. inch. inch. Length, head and body l-j \s head 063 0*65 tail 1-45 1*3 do. free from membrane 0*15 0*15 ear 0*5 0*5 tragus 0*2 0*2 „ forearm 1-3 1-3 thumb 0*2 0*2 third finger, metacarpal 1-15 1*15 1st phalanx 0*4 0*45 2nd phalanx 0*55 0*55 fifth finger, metacarpal 1*1 \-\ 1st phalanx 0*28 03 2nd phalanx 0*2 0*2 tibia 0*45 0*45 foot 0*22 0*22 >> 5> >> 5> >J >, 55 55 55 J) 55 5) 55 55 » As Blasius has remarked in his description of V. maurus, the first upper premolar is extremely small in both these specimens. In that from Tuscany I had considerable difficulty in finding it even with the aid of a lens. This at once accounts for Bonaparte's mistake when describing the dentition of V. savii. 1 Vespertilio savii, Bonap., and the other species (V. leucippe, V. aristippe, V. alcythoe) described by Bonaparte (Fauna Italica, 1837), are not included by me in the 'Catal. Chiropt. Br. Mus.,' because, in the first place, I was unable to obtain an examination of the types, which appear to be in the possession of Mr. E. F. Tomes, and are noticed by him to have been in a very bad state when he received them from Prince Bonaparte in 1857 (see P.Z.S. 1858, p. 81), and, secondly, because the descriptions in the 'Fauna Italica' were quite insufficient to enable me to assign places to them in my work. Thus, had I followed Bonaparte's original, and Keyserling and Blasius's subsequent description (Wiegm. Archiv, 1839, p. 317) of V. savii, that species must have been placed in the subgenus Vesperus ; while V. maurus, Bias., which is evidently another name for the same species, would have appeared, as it rightly does, among the species of tbe subgenus Vesperugo. I say " evidently," for it appears quite clear to me that Prof. Savi knew the species with which his name had been associated, and sent a correctly named specimen (though not the type of the species) to the G-ot-tingen Museum, which corresponds in all respects, except in dentition, with the descriptions referred to above. Nevertheless, I retain Blasius's name " Vesperugo maurus," given in 1853, in preference to Bonaparte's, as, for the reasons I have given, it is impossible to be absolutely sure that it is a synonym of V. savii. |