THE FIELD MOUSE SII 
naked except in the region of the heel, and it is provided with six 
normally placed pads; the latter though well developed are smaller 
than those of the palm; they are ovate in form, the postero-external 
being the smallest; the skin between the pads is finely tuberculo- 
reticulate, smooth between the last pad and the heel, in which 
latter situation it is wrinkled. There are six mamme in the female, 
one pair being pectoral, the remaining two pairs inguinal. In young 
males the g/azs penzs is complex; the parts called papilla centralis, pp. 
laterales,and p. lingualis by Tullberg being distinct, as in Crécetus ; in 
the adult certain of these elements fuse together, and the g/ans acquires 
a simpler form approaching that of higher Murine, e.g. Epimys (see 
Hinton, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. July 1914, 133). Each testis when 
fully developed is as large as, or larger than, the brain. 
Pelage :—The fur is soft and never becomes spinous, for though 
many of the hairs of the back are grooved bristles these are quite weak. 
The density and length of the fur varies according to the sub-species, 
age, or season. In English specimens the longer hairs of the back 
attain a length of about 9 mm. in summer, and 10 mm. in winter. 
Colour (4. s. sy/vaticus):—The basal two-thirds of all hairs, at all 
ages and seasons, are slate-grey ; this tint is concealed by the differently 
coloured hair tips. The general colour of the back in adults in fresh 
pelage is “wood-brown,” with a more or less distinct reddish tinge 
posteriorly, and becoming paler or more buffy on the head, shoulders, 
and flanks. Numerous long black hairs slightly but distinctly cloud 
the middle of the back with black; on the flanks, where they are fewer, 
these hairs produce a well-marked “lining” effect. On the cheeks, 
sides of the neck, outer surfaces of the fore legs, and along a narrow, ill- 
defined region immediately above the line of demarcation on each side, 
the colour is a dull light buff. The line of demarcation is always distinct 
in adults. The whole ventral surface and the dorsal surfaces of the 
feet are of a dull white or silvery hue, irregularly darkened on the throat 
and belly by the slaty bases of the hairs, and sometimes washed with 
buff. A more or less bright spot of buff or orange is frequently present 
on the throat in well-developed specimens; sometimes this forms a 
complete collar, or is lengthened into a feeble median stripe; it is 
often quite minute or wholly absent. The ear is dull brown, with 
lighter or occasionally silvery edges. The tail is inconspicuously 
bicoloured, its upper surface being dark brown, whitish below. 
Moult :—Specimens showing the moult are rare, and the change of 
coat is probably made in a gradual and inconspicuous manner (Barrett- 
Hamilton, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1900, 399). Adams has seen only one case 
in which the line of demarcation was in moult; this, a young female 
(H. and B., 73 mm.; perforate) taken at Reigate in June, had the hinder 
and central part of the ventral surface in the first or grey pelage, while 
laterally and forwards the thick white adult pelage was developed. A 
