CRICETUS. 321 
number varying from six to eighteen, and they develop very rapidly. 
Their eyes open in about a week, and when a fortnight old the parents 
drive them off to shift for themselves. The European hamster is a most 
savage little creature, and has been known to attack even a red-hot bar, 
and hold on in spite of the pain. 
The two following are dwarf species—Cvicetulus of some authors :—* 
No. 330. CRICETUS PHAUS. 
The Persian Hamster. 
HasitTat.—Yarkand, Gilgit, Persia. 
DESCRIPTION.—Cinereous above, white below; the colour varies 
from pure ashey grey to grey with an isabelline tinge.—Blan/ford, 
Size.—Head and body, about 4 inches ; tail, 14 inches. 
No. 331. CRICETUS FULVUS. 
The Sandy Hamster. 
Hasitat.—Yarkand, Gilgit. 
DeEscrIPTION.—Colour above light sandy brown to sandy grey; no 
band down the back; lower parts, feet, and tail white; fur very soft, 
fully half an inch long in the middle of the back in some specimens, 
Rather larger than the last species, (See Blanford’s ‘Second Yarkand 
Mission,’ p. 45.) 
S1zE.—Head and body about 44 inches; tail about 14 inches. 
SUB-FAMILY MURIN&. 
CHARACTER.—Molars tuberculate, at least in youth; infra-orbital 
opening typical ; pterygoid fossz lengthened ; auditory bullz moderate ; 
cheek pouches absent or very small; tail scaly, more or less naked, 
cosmopolitan (A/sfoz). Three molars in each jaw, the first of which is 
the largest and the hinder one the least. I think that, with the 
exception of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, some of the members of 
this family are known in every quarter of the globe. 
GENUS MUS. 
“Muzzle pointed; eyes prominent; ears rather large, sub-naked ; 
fur soft (rarely mixed with spines); pollex rudimentary; claws short ; 
tail moderate or long, scaly, with scattered hairs; no cheek pouches ; 
* Dallas mentions (Cassell’s ‘Nat. Hist.’) a species from Kumaon, Cricetus songarus. 
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