50 



Records of the Indian Museum. 



[Vol. Ill, 



the smaller and the larger were taken from different colonies. In 

 fur quality the four resemble one another very closel}^ ; the}' differ 

 from the Punjab Mettads in having shorter and darker fur. In 

 the latter the length of the dorsal hairs is about 15 mm,, the 

 colour dark slate-gre^- with about 3 mm. of the terminal portion 

 of a reddish fawn. In the Buldana Mettad the fur is about 10 mm. 

 in length, the coloured terminal portion being about 2 mm. in 

 length. In both the fur is as soft and silky as mole-skin. No con- 

 stant differences can be found between the skulls of the two races. 



The lengths of the palatine foramen and the upper molar 

 series in each of the specimens is as follows: 9 and 6, 8"5 and 6'5, 

 8 and 6, 8*5 and 6. The large excess in the length of the palatine 

 foramen is well known to be the characteristic feature of the skull 

 of this species. 



Bid. 3, Gunoinys bengalensis — 



The four skins have evidently been taken from large rats, one 

 skin measuring as much as 270 mm. from snout to root of the tail ; 

 the rat from which it was taken probabl}'' measured as much as 

 240 mm. Two of the others must have been about 200 mm. in 

 length, and the fourth about 175. There is a considerable differ- 

 ence in the character of the fur of the four specimens. They are 

 all greyish brown, but the two medium-sized specimens have very 

 light coloured bellies sharply contrasting with the darker sides, 

 while in the largest specimen the belly is dark and this contrast 

 is not seen. 



It happens that the two light coloured specimens ver}- closely' 

 resemble a skin of a Gunomys from Chingleput in Madras, — much 

 more closely than they resemble the other specimens from Buldana. 



In spite of the differences in colour the skulls of the four re- 

 semble one another very closely, all being considerabh' narrower 

 than the average skull in a mixed race of Gunomys such as is met 

 with in Calcutta. They resemble in this respect the skulls of the 

 melanotic race of Gunomys found in Rangoon, but are somewhat 

 narrower even than these. It is probable that increased size is 

 correlated with diminution in the breadth of the skull, as in Gunomys 

 varius and the genus Bandicota. 



The measurements of these skulls are as follows : — 



