Rodents from Van^ Kurdistan. 309 



closely allied E. tntermedius^ it may be distinguished by its 

 smaller size, loose fur, and dull coloration. 



AUactaga WilUamsi, sp. n. 



Intermediate in size between the large A. aluctaga, Oliv.*, 

 and the much smaller A. eitphraticn, acontion, and indica. 

 General colour coarsely mixed yellowish butf and black. 

 Face more finely grizzled buff; a spot above the eye poste- 

 riorly and a large patch on the cheek below the eye white. 

 The latter patch is succeeded behind by the clear yellowish 

 buff of the sides of the neck and upper part of the shoulder. 

 Flanks bordering the white belly also more or less butfy, 

 interrupted behind by the usual white hip-stripe. Below 

 the latter the outer sides of the thighs and legs to the ankles 

 are bright rich salmon-buff (almost orange-buff of liidgway); 

 upper surface of hands and feet white. Ears of medium 

 length, their hairs rich buff, but as these are only present in 

 any number along the anterior third of the outer surface and 

 along the extreme edge of the inner surface, the rest of the 

 ear appears dull brown (which may or may not be flesh- 

 coloured in life). Tail for the greater part of its length bright 

 buffy, whiter below. Distally, as the hairs lengthen they 

 become blackish, at least above, and form a black subter- 

 minal band from one to two inches in length, succeeded by 

 a pure white tip supported on the terminal half-inch of the 

 tail-vertebrfe. 



Skull strong and stoutly built, forming a large edition of 

 that of A. acont/'on, quite different from the long-muzzled 

 skull of A. mongolica, lladde (inch A. annidata, M.-Edw.). 

 Ui)per premolar only about a quarter the size of m^, which 

 in its turn is about one-third the size of w'. 



Dimensions of the type, an adult male, taken by the col- 

 lector in the flesh : — 



Head and body 141 millim. ; tail 203; hind foot 65; 

 ear 46. 



Skull : basilar length 27" 2 ; greatest breadth 23"8 ; nasals 



* Dipus alactaga, Oliv, Bull. Soc. Philom. ii. p. 121 (1800). The 

 proper name of this species is somewhat doubtful. Biichner calls it 

 A. saliem; but this is based on Gmeliii's Cuniculus jjumilio saliens, which 

 was not given binomially at all, and has therefore no status in nomen- 

 clature. By Blanford and myself it has been called A. decumana, Licht., 

 but the name used above has a priority of 25 years over that given by 

 Lichtenstein. The words major, inedia, minor, jyygmcea, and minuta, 

 occurring /;«ssm in Pallas's account of his Mus jaculus (Glires, p. 275 et 

 seqq.), are, in a book written throughout in Latin, apparently used as 

 descriptive icords, and are clearly not given as names, for which they 

 cannot tlierefore be used. 



