474 Zoological Society. 



Rats (Hypsiprymnus) from the Society's Collection, and read extracts 

 relating to them from a paper which he had prepared upon the sub- 

 ject so long ago as the year 1832; and which, though partly read 

 before the Linna?an Society at that time, had never been made public, 

 owing to the imperfection of the materials then in this country for 

 the perfect illustration of the genus. Reserving the detail of his 

 observations for an express monograph, Mr. Ogilby briefly charac- 

 terized the following species : — 



1. Hyp. setosus: described in the Proceedings for 1830-31, 

 p. 149. 



2. Hyp. myQsurus: easily distinguished from all the other species 

 by its much shorter tail and tarsus ; the former organ being scaly, as 

 in the true Rats. 



3. Hyp. melanotis : a large species with longer ears than its con- 

 geners, and readily distinguished by the dark brown colour of the 

 hair which covers the organs, as well as by its superior size. 



4. Hyp. formosus : a beautiful small species of a light russet- 

 brown colour, the latter half of the tail white. 



5. Hyp. Phillippi : pale brown, with a slight shade of russet above, 

 dirty white beneath ; tail long, cylindrical, covered with short, ad- 

 pressed yellowish-white hairs beneath, and with reddish-brown 

 woolly fur on the upper surface, terminated by a tuft of dirty yel- 

 lowish-brown ; ears elliptical; head small and attenuated; tarsus 

 long, and of a pale greyish white colour ; middle upper incisors not 

 so much longer in the lateral as in Hyp. murinus % and lower shorter 

 and slenderer ; the canines are nearly in contact with the lateral in- 

 cisors, and of the same form and size. This is the species described 

 in Governor Phillipp's Voyage : that figured by White appears to 

 be Hyp. myosurus. 



6. Hyp. Cuniculus : in size and colour something resembling Hyp. 

 Phillippi, but of a clearer grizzled brown colour, something like that 

 of the wild rabbit ; a dark brown patch marks the nose ; tail long, 

 cylindrical, and terminated by a tuft of coffee- coloured wool ; upper 

 middle incisors very large, separated from one another and truncated ; 

 the lower of the same form, but considerably shorter than in any 

 other species, and the canines much smaller than the contiguous 

 lateral incisors, and separated from them by a distinct bar or vacant 

 space ; by all which characters this animal differs from Hyp. Phillippi, 

 as well as by its larger and thicker head and clearer grey colour. 



7. Hyp. murinus : of nearly the same colours as the last two spe- 

 cies, but readily distinguished by its short, thick head, blunt, unat- 

 tenuated muzzle, and very short ears bordered with red : the teeth 



