Descriptive List of the Rodents of South Africa. 191 



dull lavender-purple ; below and insides of the limbs pure white ; 

 ears moderately long and oval ; tail slender, cylindrical, and tapering, 

 clothed with short, stiff hairs of the same colour as the back, 

 ending in a thin umber-brown tuft. 



Upper incisors pale Dutch-orange with a median longitudinal 

 furrow, lower incisors pale straw-yellow, slender and long (Smith). 



Dimensions. Head and body 4-0 ; tail 4 - 50 ; length of upper 

 molars '2. 



Distribution. The types procured by Sir A. Smith were found 

 north of Latakoo, in what is now Bechuanaland, and are in the 

 British Museum. Thomas and Noak have identified Gerbilles from 

 Damaraland and the Kalahari with this species, and de Winton 

 mentions Namaqualand and the Transvaal as localities. There are 

 no examples in the South African Museum. 



GERBILLUS AFER, THE CAPE GERBILLE. 



Gcrbillus afcr, GRAY, Spicileg. Zool., p. 10 (1828) ; A. SMITH, 

 S. Afr. Quart. Journ., ii., p. 159 (1834) ; F. CUVIER, Trans. Zool. Soc., 

 ii., p. 143, pi. xxvi., figs. 5, 9 (1836) ; A. SMITH, Illustr. Zool. S. Afr. 

 Marnm., pi. xxxv. (1849) ; LAYARD, Cat. Mamm. S. Afr. Mus., p. 51 

 (1862) ; DE WINTON, Proc. Zool. Soc., p. 800 (1896) [Rhodesia] ; ID., 

 Ann. Mag. N.H. (7), i., p. 4 (1898). 



Meriones schlegelii, SMUTS, Enum. Mam. Cap., p. 41, pi. i., pi. iii., 

 figs. 1, 5 (1832) [Port Elizabeth] . 



Description. General colour fawn brown, darker owing to the 

 intermixture of black hairs on the back, lighter on the sides ; fur soft 

 and thick, pale slaty at the base, the tips lightish brown ; below from 

 the chin backwards pure white, the fur being the same colour 

 throughout ; head rather pointed, ears oval and large, sparsely 

 covered with fine bi'own hairs ; front limbs short, brown outside, 

 white inside and on the hands, with four pale yellow or white claws 

 and five prominent carpal pads ; hind limbs long, the tarsus and toes 

 especially so, the latter covered with white hairs, the three middle 

 toes much the longest and the first the shortest, all with long, pale 

 claws; there are four tarsal pads, the one at the base of the first digit 

 being smaller than the others ; tail about as long as the head and 

 body, fairly thickly covered with stiff hairs, brown above, pale below. 



Upper incisors yellow, with a prominent, well-marked groove run- 

 ning along slightly nearer the outer than the inner edge of the tooth ; 

 lower incisors the same colour and ungrooved. 



Dimensions (of a specimen in alcohol). Head and body 5'0 ; tail 



