always in the line of the other teeth and always large and is never prematurely shed. The first premolar also of the lower jaw is relatively smaller than in the species just enumerated, and it is smaller in E. micropus than in E. pictus. There is a remarkable circumstance connected with E. micropus. In examining the different species of Indian hedgehogs, I was in the habit of having their skulls removed and cleaned for examination, and in having this done with E. micropus I was always disappointed on receiving back the skulls from the osteologist to find what I supposed was a broken zygomatic arch, owing to careless manipulation. The Museum osteologist, however, persisting in asserting that he was most careful in preparing the skulls, and that he had not injured them, I had a careful dissection made from without inwards on to the zygomatic arch, and I was astonished to find that there was no trace of a malar bone in any specimens of E. micropus examined by me, 4 in all. This fresh dissection showed that the interval between the zygomatic process of the squamous and the malar process of the maxillary is bridged over by tendon, and that therefore this South Indian hedgehog stands alone in this remarkable feature. Such a variation on the normal structure of the skull of a hedgehog was not to be anticipated, as there is no weakening of the zygomatic arch in any of the other species. Even in the allied species E. pictus, the malar is strongly developed. An examination of the free ends of the process of the maxilla and squamous shews that this observation is perfectly accurate, as there is no indication whatever of any specialized surface on which a malar could rest, and which is always easily observable in skulls of other species in which the malar has been lost. Notwithstanding this anomalous character, I am disposed to attach more weight to the character of the second upper premolar in this species than to the absence of its malar, which is an intense specific variation, whereas the other which is common to two species very closely allied in other details of their structure would seem to be almost entitled to sub-generic rank. These two forms, E. micropus and E. pictus, notwithstanding the foregoing difference in the skulls, are externally so alike that they might be mistaken for one another. Not only is their coloration almost identical, but the form of their heads is much the same; and more important, their fore feet more especially differ essentially in shape from the fore feet of all the other Asiatic species of hedgehogs (see figs. e and ƒ, Pl. III, and compare with fig. f, Pl. IV). Both of these species are characterized by their feet being short, club-shaped, and tubercular on the soles, whereas in such forms as E. grayi and the other Asiatic hedgehogs, the feet are not club shaped and tubercular, but moderately elongated with well-developed toes and generally long claws. The feet of hedgehogs would appear to be the subject of considerable variation, as some have only 4 toes on the hind feet, (Peröechinus Fitzinger), and moreover the central pad of the hind feet would appear to be rudimentary in some species and to be present in others, while, as has just been shown, some of them have tubercular soles. It appears to me therefore that reliable specific characters are to be observed in the feet of the members of this genus, but I do not consider any of the variations to be of sub-generic value. As an illustration of the differences that subsist in this respect, it will be observed that the species E. grayi does not possess any true central pad on the hind foot, a structure which is largely developed in E. jerdoni, but nearly absent in E. blanfordi, which, as was to be expected from this circumstance, is closely allied to E. grayi. Another feature in the structure of Indian hedgehogs is deserving of attention, and that is the presence on the vertex, in some species, of a considerable nude area quite devoid of spines, and even of the most rudimentary hairs. This naked area reaches forwards to where the spines arise on the forehead, dividing those on this region into two sets, one on either side of the head. It occurs in all the Indian species with the exception of E. grayi and E. blanfordi, and it is present also in E. niger and E. macracanthus, whereas it does not appear to exist in the European hedgehog and I have not observed it in any of the following species, viz., E. auritus, E. albulus, and E. megalotis, all of which, however, like the Indian species, whether with or without this area, agree in having fine soft almost silky hair, very distinct from the long bristly hair that clothes the body of the European species. In the Zoology of Persia* a small hedgehog is figured along with the type of E. macracanthus. Both of the specimens which yielded the figures are now in the Indian Museum and the latter is distinguished (E. macracanthus,) by this nude area and black spines with two white rings, and the former, which Blanford considered as a young specimen of the species, by the entire absence of the bare area and by yellowish spines of which the tips are white, followed by a narrow black ring succeeded by a white and this again by a short brown space. This small hedgehog in the character of its spines and in the absence of the bare area on the vertex resembles E. megalotis, but it does not appear to be that species. I am disposed to conclude that this bare area is of too great structural importance to be present or absent among members of a species and to consider it as of specific significance. With regard to the disposition of the spines it would appear that * Zool, of Persia, Blanford, 1876, Pl. 1. their relative positions to each other depend greatly on the condition of the panniculus carnosus, and that the spines only become irregularly intermixed through contractions of this muscle which, when relaxed, permits the spines to lie flat and regularly. On the label of an example of E. albulus, collected by Stoliczka, he has written, "outer edge of nostrils ciliated." On looking at the nostril in allthe Indian species of hedgehog, I find that the outer edge, more especially the upper crescentic half, is provided with a papillary valve which serves to close the orifice. In E. grayi, it forms a distinct fringe of 12 papillæ. The spines of the Indian and Western Asiatic hedgehogs are grooved and ridged, the ridges being covered with fine tubercles. The numbers of the ridges on the spines of the same animal are subject to considerable variation, and the degree to which the tubercles are developed appears to vary, so that stable specific characters are not yielded by these structures. The foregoing characters, therefore, permit of the Indian hedgehogs being resolved into the following groups, and of the species being recognized by the characters under which they are grouped. A. SECOND UPPER PREMOLAR SIMPLE, ONE-FANGED. I. a. A division or bare area on the vertex. ... No malar bone: a prominent dark brown band through the eyes E. micropus. E. pictus. B. SECOND UPPER PREMOLAR COMPOUND, THREE-FANGED. II. No division or bare area on the vertex. No large mesial pad on the hind foot. muzzle long. Ears large, high Head elongated and and pointed. General E. grayi. Mesial pad on the hind foot very feeble. Head short, muzzle not elongated. Ears modorately large, not high and not pointed. General colour black above, fuliginous-brown below, E. blanfordi. III. A division on the vertex, separating the spines into two groups. Hind foot with a large prominent mesial pad. Muzzle moder ately long. Ears large, rounded at the tip and broad at The following is a description of these species in detail: ... E. jerdoni. Erinaceus auritus, Pearson, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. V, 1836, p. 191. Erinaceus collaris, Gray. List. Mam. B. M. 1813, p. 81, partim. Erinaceus micropus, Blyth, Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Vol. XV, 1846, p. 170, partim ; id. op. cit. Vol. XXII, 1853, p. 582 ; id. Cat. Mam. Mus. As. Soc. Bengal, 1863, p. 80: Wagner, Schreber, Säugeth, Suppl. V, 1855, p. 591; Stoliczka, Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Vol. XLI, 1872, p. 225. Erinaceus nudiventris, Horsfield, Cat. Mam. East Ind. As. Mus., 1851, p. 136. Erinaceus (Hemiechinus) micropus, Fitzinger, Sitzungbte. der K. Akad. Wissensch. Wien, Vol. LX, Pl. 1, 1867, p. 875, partim. Head rather short, and broader than E. pictus, and slightly concave from the forehead to the tip of the snout. Ears moderately large and rounded at the tip, directed forwards and outwards, and slightly smaller than the ears of E. pictus. Feet well developed, but small, short and broad, with short toes and short claws: feet being somewhat larger than those of E. pictus. The first toe of the hind foot small, but claw strong. The soles of the hind feet more or less tubercular. When the muscle is not contracted over the forehead, the spines do not reach anterior to the front margin of the ears. There is a broad bare space passing backwards from the forehead for about one inch and a quarter, with a nearly uniform breadth of half an inch, and this bare area would appear to exist in both sexes of the species. The tail is short, and there is a semicircular bare area above it. The ears are moderately but sparingly clad with short whitish hairs, and the tail with longish dark brown hairs. The anterior third of the head, up to half way between the nose, the eye, and the chin appear to be nude, but they are very sparsely covered with minute white hairs. The middle third of the head is covered more profusely with longer hairs, and the posterior third, to between the ears, densely with moderately long hairs, increasing in length from before backwards. The upper surfaces of the feet are well clad with short flattened brown hairs. The bare surfaces on the head and above the tail are perfectly devoid of hairs. The under surface is not very thickly clad and the insides of the limbs are still less so. The spines are rather fine, about 0·83 of an inch long, very sharp and marked with from 17 to 22 ridges and furrows, the former generally broader than the latter, and covered with minute shining tubercles. The apex of each spine is white and is succeeded by a narrow dark brown band which gives a brown and white speckled appearance to the animal. The remainder of each spine is yellow or orange yellow. The seminude skin of the anterior third of the head is leaden-coloured, a hue that extends on to the chin. The hairs on the second or middle third of the head form a broad brown band which embraces the eye, passes backwards behind the angle of the mouth, over the under surface of the neck as a dark brown collar. A brown spot at the upper angle of the ear. A broad white band behind the brown band and the spines of the forehead, passing downwards before the ears on to the sides of the neck and throat, behind the brown band, and continuous with the white of the under parts; chin and whiskers white, and sides of chin brownish. The lower halves of the limbs clad with brown hairs, also the tail. The inguinal region and lower abdomen clad with brown hairs with an intermixture of white. The leading features of this species are its short snout and head, short club-shaped feet as compared with E. grayi, E. blanfordi, and E. jerdoni; its slightly longer feet as compared with E. pictus, which are, however, of the same type; its not long ears, slightly shorter than in the latter; white and brown tipped spines, orange or yellow; and a brown collar over the forehead, between the eyes, behind the angle of the mouth and across the throat. its The skull is distinguished by its short broad character, but in this respect it is much narrower than the skull of E. pictus. In the former, the breadth across the zygomata falls short considerably of two thirds of the length, whereas in E. pictus, breadth and sharpness are marked features of the skull, combined with a greater post-orbital contraction than in E. micropus, and, in the adult male, the breadth generally equals two thirds of the length. The complete absence of the malar bone is another character which separates it from E. pictus, from which it is also distinguished by the small size of its 2 upper premolars. The following are some measurements of E. micropus. |