766 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.xxiv. 
nearl}^ straight from middle of brain case to tip of nasals. Teeth small, 
normal. Mammii? 8. 
Far. — The fur is fine and close in texture, but on examination it is 
seen to be densely l)eset with very slender spines. These spines are 
rather more numerous than in Mus^ilehHis., but their width is distinctly 
less than in the Andaman species. The fur of the back is sprinkled 
with a few long- terete hairs, l)ut these are onh' evident on close inspec- 
tion. On the belly the bristles are reduced to mere rudiments scarcely 
to be distinguished from the ordinary hairs. 
Color. — Back and sides a tine grizzle of black and russet, the two 
colors in about equal parts on the back, the russet in excess on the 
sides and outer surface of legs, where it is faintly washed with wood 
brown. Belly and iimer side of legs drab, a little tinged with russet. 
Chin, middle of throat, axillary region and area surrounding nipples 
white, this color perhaps abnormal. Cheeks and muzzle like bell v, but 
slight!}^ more washed with russet. Top of head dai'k, grizzled hair 
brown. Feet scantily sprinkled with brownish and whitish hairs. 
Ears and -tail uniform dark brown. 
Tail. — The annulation of the tail is indistinct and somewhat irregu- 
lar. At middle there are eleven or twelve rings to the centimeter. 
From the base of each scale spring two or three stiff hairs, the length 
of which scarcely exceeds the width of the rings. The hairs are very 
inconspicuous, and more apparent to the touch than to sight. At 
extreme tip the skin of the tail is whitish, but this character may 
readily be abnormal. 
Marninw. — There are 8 mammae, 1 pectoral pair and 3 inguinal 
pairs. 
Feet. — Relatively to the size of the animal, the feet are imusually 
small and weak. Soles with the six pads rather indistinct in the dry 
spejcimen. 
Ears. — The ears are in no way peculiar. In length they are about 
equal to distance between eye and muzzle. They are naked, except 
for a fine, almost microscopic pubescence. 
Skull. — The skull of Mm palU venter differs conspicuously from that 
of the other Andaman and Nicobar rats in its Hat dorsal outline. When 
viewed from the side the profile is nearly straight from front of 
nasals to middle of braincase. The palatal profile shares the same 
peculiarity but to a less degree. Except for its flatness the skull 
closely resembles that of Mus rattus. The rostrum is, however, more 
elongate, and the audital bull* are smaller. When viewed from 
above the plate forming outer wall of antorbital foramen scarcely 
extends in front of line of outer curve of zygomatic arch, while in 
Mus rattus it projects conspicuously in front of this line. Viewed 
from the side this plate is narrower and less concave than in Mus 
rattus., and its front edge is nearly straight. 
