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Show 264 DR. C I. FORSYTH MA.TOR ON [Mar. 19, of the same as Gray's species, and have never met with a black male. (3) According to Schlegel's view, Gray's Prosimia rufipes is a synonym of I. Geoffroy S.-H.'s Lemur rubriventer audi Lemur fiaviventer, the latter being the female, the former the male form. The difference in coloralion between the sexes of Lemur rubriventer-which name antedates Prosimia rufipes -would therefore appear merely to consist in a lighter coloration of the underparts in the female. This view I found to be supported by my own material also. (4) In the specimens collected by myself, the iris is yellow and not greenish blue, as is the case, according to Milne- Edwards, with Lemur nigerrimus. (5) The skull of one of the two types of Prosimia rufipes l, which agrees perfectly with those collected by myself, is very different from the skull of L. nigerrimus figured in the ' Hist. Nat. de Madagascar.' The conclusion was that Gray's Prosimia rufipes, which is I.Geof-froy's Lemur rubriventer and I. fiaviventer, is a very different species from Lemur nigerrimus. Not having seen the types of L. rubriventer and fiaviventer, nor any specimen of L. nigerrimus, I expressed myself in perhaps too cautious a manner, although at that time already the matter was settled in m y opinion. Thereby I did not wish in the least to cast a doubt on Milne-Edwards's statement with regard to the colour of the female Lemur nigerrimus. His mistake is easily explained by the circumstance that in the description of the types of Prosimia rufipes none of the very characteristic features of the species are mentioned : the accompanying plates are inaccurate even with regard to the coloration. I have, since the date of my first note, been able to examine (1) a couple of Lemur rubriventer, deposited some time ago in the Society's Gardens by the Hon. Walter Rothschild ; (2) one of the types of Geoff roy's Lemur fiaviventer, in the Leyden Museum, it was obtained in 1834 by Bernier and received in 1835 from the Paris Museum ; (3) a skull of the adult male of Lemur nigerrimus, presented last year by Mr. Stanley Flower to the Natural History Museum. From an inspection of the individuals living in the Gardens, any one may convince himself that the male of Lemur rubriventer is not black : and that the iris in both is yellow, and not greenish blue as in Lemur nigerrimus according to Milne-Edwards. A third point which needed explanation, is elucidated by them. In a recent book on Primates- in which, by the way, quite a number of original observations are embodied, although it does not pretend to be more than a compilation-the description of the male of Lemur rubriventer contains the following : " a ring round the eyes cobalt-blue "8. This peculiar statement is easily traceable back to 1 The skull has not been taken out of the second mounted specimen. - H. O. Forbes. A Handbook to the Primates, i. p. 76 (1894). |