LEMMINGS. 267 



American. An exception must, however, be made for the species of Hyfud.^us, in which there is a 

 close concordance."* Of the.se, there is only one species in America ; it constitutes the connecting 

 link between the Arvicoline IIesperomys and Sigmodon, and the Ar-s'icol.e proper. 



Lemmixg (Myodes). (Map 85.) The Lemmings can easilj^ be distinguished from the Field-mice 

 by their feet ha\-ing hairy soles, and by having their claws sickle-shaped and adapted for digging. 

 They are confined to the Ai'ctic portion of the northern hemisphere. The most northerly species is 

 that best known by the name of Myodes Grcenlandicus, which might have been more appropriately 

 named, for although it is found in Greenland, that country is not its head-quarters. It was first 

 described, and the specific name afiixed, by Dr. Traill, from individuals procured hy Capt. Scoresby 

 on the east coast of Greenland, but it is not mentioned in Fabricius' " Faima Gro^nlandica," and its 

 more especial habitat is the extreme northern shores of Asia and America. In Capt. Parry's second 

 expedition a considerable number were caught in Repulse Bay. Mr. Goodwin (although he did 

 not himself see them, not having landed) speaks of what must have been this Lemming, occurring in 

 great numbers on the west side of Baffin's Bay, about lat. 70° near Agnes monument, f Mid- 

 dendorlfj has shown that this species has been described under several names, and that the name 

 entitled to adoption on the ground of priority is M. torquatus of Pallas. One variety found on 

 the shores of Hudson's Bay, distinguished by having the two middle fore-claws verj' large and 

 much compressed, with the exti'emities blunt and divided by a terminal notch into two points, one 

 above tlie other, seemed to have good claim to bo considered distinct, and was described and known 

 under the name M. Hudsonius ; but it now turns out that exactly the same peculiarities are 

 observed in Asiatic specimens, which were described bj' Baer as Lemmus ungulatus. 



In speaking above of the long-tailed Field-mouse, I reminded the reader of the nature of its 

 habitation with some exactness, because it is the only guide we have to enable us to determine 

 whether that species does or does not exist in Iceland, or whether, as I suppose, it is the Lemming 

 which has been mistaken for it there — a fact which, as the reader knows, must have rather an 

 important bearing on the past geological history of that part of the northern hemisphere. 



Let us see how far the habits recorded of the Iceland species agree with those of Mus 

 SYLVATicus. I only know of three authorities who sj)eak of its occurrence in Iceland -nitli any- 

 thing of a personal knowledge of the subject, and none of the three saw it theui.selves. The 

 testimony of two of them, however, is so strong as to leave little doubt that something of the mouse 

 kind does occur there. The three authorities are : 1, Olafsen and Povelsen, who, while they sjjeak 

 of it as only a variety of the domestic mouse, narrate an anecdote of its habits which is inconsistent 

 with this supposition. 2. Sir William Hooker, who laughs at the anecdote, and states that the 

 Mus SYLVATICUS is not, to his knowledge, found in Iceland ; and 3. Ebenezer Henderson, who 

 corroborates Olafsen and Povelsen's statement apparently on good grounds. 



The account given by Olafsen and Povelsen is as follows :§ — " There is but a small number of 

 Mice in Iceland, and the white Mouse of the woods (Mus sylvaticus) appears to be only a variety 

 of the domestic Mouse. The instinct of this little animal induces it to collect a quantity of grain 

 for its winter provender ; and its magazines may be frequently discovered in the woods and out- 

 skirts. "We were assured that these Mice undertake long journeys, and even cross rivers, on which 

 occasion they have the sagacity to pass the water in a diagonal line ; they use pieces of dry cow- 



* Baird, loc. cit. p. 511. 1853, pp. 87-108. 



t GooDWDJ, R. A., "Arctic Voyage," 1850, p. 114. § Olaf.sen aud Povei£EN, "Travels in Iceland," 1805, 



X MiDDENDORFF, " SibeHsche Reise," 11. Wirbelthiere, i. p. 117, English translation, ISOG, p. 58. 



