Zoological Society. 45 1 



width. The stomach, a single cavity, without any apparent division, 

 measured 1 inch and 2-10ths in depth, in the direction of the entrance 

 of the cesophagus, and 2 inches in breadth : the pyloric orifice con- 

 tracted, the duodenum dilated to 1 inch and 2-lOths in circumference : 

 length of the small intestines 2 feet and 9 inches. The ccecum 3 inches 

 in length, curved upon itself, 2 inches and 4-10ths in circumference, 

 and divided by numerous septa. The colon equally large at the com- 

 mencement, but gradually diminishing : at the distance of 7 inches 

 from the insertion of the ileum it was of small calibre, occasionally 

 dilated, forming sacculi, in which the faecal matter was collected and 

 detained. The rectum narrow and uniform in size j the whole length 

 of colon and rectum 3 feet 8 inches. The kidney of the right side was 

 two-thirds of its length in advance of that on the left : each mea- 

 sured 7-10ths of an inch in its longest diameter, and 4-10ths in 

 width. 



tf Some peculiarities observed in these little animals are worthy of 

 notice. The molar teeth, as before stated, presented the singular 

 anomaly of those of the upper jaw being different in their structure 

 and surfaces from those of the lower jaw. The former, in their 

 crowns, are very similar to those figured by M. F. Cuvier, as pecu- 

 liar to his genus Helamys (Pedetes, Illig.) j while those of the lower 

 jaw somewhat resemble the teeth of the various species of Arvicola. 

 The stomach, in form and pyloric contraction, is like the same organ 

 in the Lemmings (Lemmus), Jerboas (Dipus), and Gerb'dles (Ger- 

 bitlus). The caecum resembles that of the Guinea-Pig (Cobqya), 

 Agouti (Dasyprocta) , and Marmot (Arctomys) -, while the sacculated 

 form of the colon is found in the common House- Rat (Mus decuma- 

 nus, Linn.) 



" Both the specimens possessed by the Society proved to be 

 females. The skin of one has been preserved for the Museum : the 

 bones of the other are in preparation for a skeleton, and when 

 mounted may probably be the subject of further notice." 



Mr. Yarrell having concluded the reading of his notes, it was stated 

 by Mr. Ogilby, that since the time when he had originally mentioned 

 his belief of the identity of the Ctenodactylus Massonii with the Gundi 

 Marmot, that opinion had been confirmed by a passage in Captain 

 Lyon's Travels in Northern Africa, in which the Gundi is so well 

 described, as to leave no doubt on his mind of its being the same animal 

 as those presented to the Society by Mr. Warrington. 



Mr. Gray remarked, that the individuals of the Ctenodactylus Mas- 

 sonii which he had described, having been sent from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, he did not suspect their specific identity with an animal from 

 Barbary, known to science by short and imperfect notes alone, and of 

 which no specimen was recorded as existing in any collection. He 

 added, that the size mentioned by Rothman,that of a small rabbit, ap- 

 peared to him to be greater than should be attributed to the animal in 

 question j which, moreover, he could not regard as being of a testa- 

 ceous red colour. In the other particulars mentioned in Rothman's 

 brief description, his Mus Gundi agreed well with the Ctenodactylus 

 Massonii. 



3 M 2 A spe- 



