LEMMUS 199 



lu turn I am indebted to the authorities at Cambridge for 

 two opportuuities of studying this material, which taUies exactly 

 with the description given by Miller; and as regards a com- 

 parison with Norwegian material I can only confirm Miller's 

 observations. Some years ago I was asked by Dr. Gadow to 

 compare " crassidens " with the skull of an old Lemming from 

 the Kola Peninsula ^ sent over by Mr. Miller for this special 

 purpose; but although the Kola skull is from a much older 

 individual than any of those represented in the " crassidens " 

 series its teeth are not quite so broad absolutely, while relatively 

 they are considerably narrower since the antero-posterior dimen- 

 sion of each tooth, and particularly of m'l, is increased ; other 

 slight differences in the proportions of the skull led me, after 

 making allowance for the difference of age, to conclude that the 

 Kola skull could not be regarded as specifically identical with 

 " crassidens." Recently, however, I have made another series 

 of comparisons and as a result find that " crassidens " is probably 

 identical with one of the subspecies of L. ohensis ; it would not 

 be safe to attempt upon the basis of such material to identify 

 it with any particular subspecies ; but the great breadth of the 

 molars, the relative shortness of m^, and the cranial proportions 

 seem to me to be exactly in agreement with L. ohensis from the 

 Taimyrlaud. How close the dental agreement is can be seen 

 from the micrometer readings ^ recorded in the table on p. 200. 



One word about the condition of the remains may be per- 

 mitted. It has been suggested to me that these Lemmings 

 are old dried-up spirit specimens which by some mischance 

 were substituted for the mummies collected by Dr. Gadow; 

 but I do not think that can be the explanation, because the 

 skulls have not the appearance so characteristic of specimens 

 that have been immersed in alcohol. In condition they are 

 exactly like the skulls of naturally mummified Lemmings that 

 I have from time to time received from friends visiting Norway. 

 At the same time I think that some such substitution must have 

 been made, either between 1886 and 1895, when the material 

 was in Dr. Gadow's possession, or between 1895 and 1896, when 

 Major Barrett-Hamilton put the mummies aside. 



Since the above note was written Miss Bate has kindly 



I supplied me with references to two papers by Harle which 



' confirm the opinion expressed above. 



One of the collectors of the Geological Survey of Portugal, 

 Ramao de Souza, was sent to Athouguia with instructions to 



. search the caves thoroughly for Lemming remains. He found 

 nine caves mostly of small size, and by means of careful digging 

 and sifting made a collection of bones, all of recent species. 

 These remains were determined by Harle as belonging to Badger, 



» Now B.M., No. 7.7.7.3620. Miller CoUection (Plate VI, fig. n). 

 ' I have not thought it worth while to reduce these readings to 

 millimetres ; 5 mm. = 44 on the micrometer scale. 



