482 BAMBOO RATS CHAP. 



work, I used frequently to watch them, and found that the loose 

 earth from their excavations was brought to the bottom of the 

 crater, and sent with great force into the air in a succession of 

 rapid jerks, and that they themselves never ventured forth from 

 the shelter of the burrows." 1 



Fam. 4. Spalacidae. " The Spalacidae," observes Dr. Blan- 

 ford, " are sometimes called rodent moles, and resemble a mole in 

 general aspect, having cylindrical bodies, short limbs, small eyes 

 and ears, large claws, and a short or rudimentary tail." The 

 existence of a spiral valve in the caecum may perhaps characterise 

 this family ; but it has at present only been found in the two 

 genera Spalax and Rhizomys. 



Spalax has inconspicuous eyes and external ears. The tail is 

 totally absent. The lower incisors are more developed than in 

 other Rodents ; they project in a bony sheath beyond the posterior 

 end of the ramus of the lower jaw. The scapula is long and 

 narrow. The large intestine is half the length of the small in- 

 testine. The animal seems to have only two pairs of teats, one 

 pectoral the other inguinal. 



Spalax typhlus of Egypt, which is probably not different from 

 the European form, makes extensive burrows, some of the branches 

 being even 30 to 40 yards in length. In a "domical chamber," 

 situated along the course of one of these burrows, Dr. Anderson 

 found no less than 68 bulbs stored up. Its eyes are mere black 

 specks among the muscles, but they appear, however, to have a 

 proper organisation. There are altogether eight species of the 

 genus, which is entirely Palaearctic in its range. 



The genus Rhizomys, including a number of species known 

 as Bamboo Eats, is purely Oriental in range. Eh. sumatrensis 

 reaches a length of 19 inches; the better-known species, Rh. 

 ladius, is at most only 9 inches in length in both cases the 

 measurements are exclusive of the tail, which is a quarter to 

 one-third of the length of the body, and is not scaly but nearly 

 naked, with a few scattered hairs. The molars are three, and 

 the incisors usually orange in colour ; but sometimes the upper 

 incisors are white as in Rh. ladius. There are thirteen dorsal 

 vertebrae. In Rh. pruinosus the large intestine is considerably 

 longer than the small intestine ; the lengths of the two sections 

 of the gut are 42 and 30 inches respectively. In another 



1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1885, p. 611. 



