4:6 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



I think, under the circumstances, that we are justified in adding this fish to the 

 list of the Irish Fauna, and I regret that no further information can now be had, Mr. 

 Massey, who was a keen and accurate observer, and had made many interesting 

 additions to the Fauna, being, alas, no more. 



CRICETUS PH.EUS. 



Dr. Carte exhibited specimens of Cricetus phaeus (?) captured in the trenches 

 of the English camp, near Balaklava, by his cousin, William Carte, Esq., asso- 

 ciate member, and read the following paper thereon : 



The animals to which I have the pleasure of calling your attention are, I believe, 

 the first fruits of natural history transmitted to this country from the seat of war 

 in the East ; the skins were sent to me, through the post, by one of your associate 

 members, W. Carte, Esq., staff assistant-surgeon, attached to the medical department 

 of the army in the Crimea. 



The Hamsters (Cricetus, Cuu.), to which these animals belong, form a nu- 

 merous family, and are generally placed between the Meriones and the Voles 

 (Arvicola, Lacep.} ; the former inhabit North America, and resemble the Gerbils, 

 save that the tails of the latter are very long, hairy, and generally tufted at the 

 extremity; whereas, in the former the tails are nearly naked, their hind legs 

 longer, and the dentition differs in having a very small tooth placed in front of the 

 superior molars. The dental formulas of the Voles and Meriones are similar to the 

 rat's that is to say, they have three molars above and below in each jaw ; but those 

 of the Meriones are not furnished with roots, and each tooth in the latter animal is 

 formed of prismatic-shaped triangles, alternately disposed in two rows. 



The animals before us differ very considerably from the foregoing. In these 

 animals the body is somewhat short and stout, clothed with a very fine and soft 

 hair, which, under different circumstances of light, presents different shades, vary- 

 ing from dark mouse-colour to light gray; the tail is very short, and appears 

 almost destitute of hair I say appears, because, when closely examined, it really 

 is not without this covering, but it is coarser than that upon the body, and is 

 disposed lengthwise, and so closely applied to the surface that the tail seems to be 

 hairless. The eyes are full and black, and the ears large oval, and almost without hair. 

 The feet are short, with four toes on the fore foot, and five on the hind, and do 

 not seem well adapted for burrowing ; but the most remarkable part of the organiza- 

 tion of these animals, and that which separates them from their congeners, is the 

 possession of cheek-pouches, some what analogous to those found in some of the Simiae ; 

 these pouches are placed immediately under the ear, on the side of the head, and 

 are formed of a dilatation or extension of the lining membrane of the mouth, in 

 the form of two sacks, each capable of containing a large-sized kidney-bean ; these 

 sacks are used by the animal for transporting its food, and thus enabling it to lay 

 up a store to be used during the winter. This was evinced by the fact of Mr. 

 Carte having found these pouches filled with grain at the time of their capture. 

 The dental formulas of this animal is similar to the rat's viz,, incisors, | ; molars, f j 

 these latter are furnished with a double row of conoidal tubercles, placed alternately, 

 the most anterior molar in the lower jaw being furnished with five such tubercles, 

 the middle and posterior with four. In the upper jaw the tubercles are placed 

 opposite to each other, and there are six tubercles in the most anterior molar, 

 four in the middle, and in the posterior or smallest but two or three irregular ; the 

 lower jaw is remarkable for the length of its posterior, inferior, angular process ; 

 and, comparatively speaking, it appears more developed in this animal than any 

 other rodent, with the exception, perhaps, of the rat, and approaches more closely 

 to the insectivorous formation, as in the mole and sorex, &c. Taking these consi- 

 derations into account, I am inclined to believe that this animal does not confine 

 itself strictly to granivorous diet, but, like our rat, is occasionally carnivorous. 



The habits of this peculiar species are in accordance with their anatomical 

 organization. It has been before stated that their feet are not adapted for burrow- 

 ing, which agrees perfectly with the account of their habits, as given by Mr. 

 William Carte, in a letter which accompanied the animals ; in it he writes that he 

 found them under some stones, in a nest which was formed in the shape of an arch, 



