{Authors arc responsible for nomenclature used.) k)^ -^ ■^.fk^h- 



Lu'LI SR AR Y 



The Scottish Naturalist 



No. 59.] 1916 [November 



EDITORIAL. 



The History of British Maninials, by Barrett-Hamilton and 

 Hinton, has now reached its 19th Part, this having appeared 

 since our last issue. In this part we note the conclusion 

 of the account of the Black or Ship Rat, in the shape of a 

 history of the third sub-species, viz. the Tree or Roof Rat 

 {Epimys rattus frugivorus). The Tree Rat is carried by 

 ships to all parts of the world, and in Britain appears not 

 infrequently in ports. Three instances of such introduction 

 are quoted, while an example taken on a ship at Leith is 

 referred to in the table of dimensions. The remainder of 

 Part XIX. is occupied by a valuable account of the Brown or 

 Common Rat {Epimys norvegicus), which runs to twenty-six 

 pages, a summary of the characters of the genus iMus, and 

 the first portion of an elaborate article on the House Mouse 

 {Mus musculiis). From the pages of this valuable and 

 exhaustive publication we learn that the Common Rat, an 

 Asiatic species, first arrived in Scotland between the years 

 1764 and 1774, and reached Selkirkshire between 1770 and 

 1777, the upper Tweed between 1776 and 1792, and Moray- 

 shire about 1 814. The account of the habits of this species 

 is extremely interesting and full of detail ; the animal is 

 59 2G 



