160 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



Juue, but, with the exception of Agrotes pronuba, they 

 mostly perish before the beginning of autumn. The 

 flowering of the marsh marigold, which has probably the 

 most conspicuous flower in the local flora, seems to be at any 

 rate synchronous with the period of greatest insect activity 

 in the Faroes. More insects are certainly to be found at 

 midsummer, when this plant is in its prime, than at any 

 other time in the year. By the beginning of August com- 

 paratively few aerial forms can be taken, though beetles and 

 earwigs are still abundant. 



I propose to deal with the insects of the Faroes at greater 

 length in my general summary, after all the papers in the 

 series have been contributed. 



XIV. On Some Forms of Mus musculus, Linn., ivith Descrip- 

 tion of a neio Subspecies from the Fceroe Islands. By 

 Wm. Eagle Clarke, F.L.S., F.K.S.E. 



(Read 22nd February 1904.) 



The familiar House Mouse {Mus inusculus) is supposed to 

 have been originally a native of Central Asia. Now it has 

 been introduced into, and has colonised, most parts of the 

 globe inhabited by man, except the inhospitable regions of 

 the north, where climatic conditions have interposed an 

 insuperable barrier to its advancement. 



In Western Europe it has a high northern range, but it 

 has failed to establish itself in Iceland. It is found in 

 certain equatorial countries; and occurs in Tierra del 

 Fuego and at the Cape of Good Hope. In the Pacific 

 Ocean it is to be met with in a number of the Polynesian 

 Islands. In the British Isles it is usually regarded as a 

 comparatively recent colonist; but if certain remains of 

 Pleistocene age have been rightly assigned by palseonto- 

 logists, this belief cannot hold good (Lydekker, 1). 



Over this almost world-wide range we find, as we should 

 naturally expect, a considerable amount of variation, and 

 a large number of subspecies have been, or are in the 



