190 MURING. 



and correspond somewhat to the description of Hodgson's M. macropus, 

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

 usual harsh hair of the kok. 



173, Nesokia Hardwickii. 



Mus apud GRAY. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837, 585. Nes. Huttoni, BLYTH, 

 J. A. S. XY. 139 1 Memoir on Eats, <fcc. 



THE SHORT-TAILED MOLE-RAT. 



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

 mixed on the rump ; 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 kok, skull wider, stronger, and 

 larger; 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 kok ; tail shorter." 



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

 M. indica (v. kok), but the tail is shorter, and the general colour lighter, 

 resembling that of the gerbilles. 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 iuches ; tail (vertebrae) 4 ; tarsus with toes and claws 1-jj- ; 

 ears posteriorly J. 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 Hardwickii and Huttoni are both described as 

 differing from kok 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-J 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, writes me that the fur of this specimen is 



