190 MURIN.E. 



and correspond somesvhat to tlie description of Hodgson's M. macrojn's, 

 but that species is said to have a fine pelage, and the Dehra rat has the 

 usual harsh hair of the koJc. 



173. Nesokia Hardwickii. 



Jius apud Gray. — Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837, 585. — Xes. Huttoni, Blyth, 

 J. A. S. XV. 139 ?— :\[emoir on Rats, (fee. 



The Short-tailed Mole-rat. 



Descr. — "Reddish or yellovz-brown, with longer dark-brown hairs inter- 

 mixed on the rurnp ; sides grayer and paler ; hairs lead-coloured at the 

 base." Such is Gray's original brief description. Elsewhere it is described 

 as " yellowish-brown, paler beneath, with numerous bristles tipped black ; 

 incisors broad." Gray says, " very like koh, skull wider, stronger, and 

 lai'ger ; cutting teeth nearly twice as wide, grinders very little larger," 

 Blyth writes me that the " cutting teeth of a specimen in the British 

 Museum are large, smooth, yellow, flat in front ; the thumb of the fore- 

 feet small, clawed, grinders about the same size as in koh ; tail shorter." 



Blyth described N. Huttoni as follows : — " Bears a near resemblance to 

 J/, indica (v. koh), but the tail is shorter, and the general colour lighter, 

 resembling that of the gei-billes. On comparison of the skulls, the 

 zygomatic arch is seen to be conspicuously broader anteriorly, and the 

 palate is much narrower and contracted to the front ; but the most 

 obvious distinction consists in all the teeth, both incisive tusks and 

 grinders, being considerably broader and stronger. In other respects the 

 skulls of these species bear a very close resemblance. Length, head and 

 body about 6 inches ; tail (vertebrae) 4 ; tarsus with toes and claws 1-| j 

 ears posteriorly h. Fur soft and fine, blackish for the larger basal half 

 of the piles, the surface pale rufescent-brown, deepest along the crown 

 and back, pale below and whitish on the throat ; whiskers small and fine, 

 chiefly black ; tail naked, feet light-brown ; incisive tusks buff-coloured." 

 It will be observed that Ilardwichii and Ilv.ttOid are both described as 

 difiei'ing from hah or indica by the broader skull, and especially the 

 broader incisors, and also by a shorter tail; which, however, is stated by 

 Blyth (in epistola) to be only 2| inches in a specimen of Hardwickii in 

 the British Museum ; but the total length of that individual is not given, 

 and the description does not imply such a very short tail as typical of the 

 species. Blyth, in addition, -wiites me that the fur of this specimen is 



