510 Dr. C. 1. Forsyth Major on 



the M'lcrotus [Pitijmijs) Savii, discovered by Pavesi above 

 Luo;ano iu tlie Canton Tessiti''^. 



When series of complete specimens of both the Microlus 

 duodecimcostalus and the '' Arricola incertus" of Southern 

 France are to hand a direct comparison will be possiljlc. 

 According to Gerbe the habitat of " A. incertus " is the 

 ■whole of Provence and Langutdoc^ part of the Koussillon 

 and of the Dauphine f. In the Basses- Alpes, according 

 to the same ^vriter^, it is common in the natural meadows 

 Avith southern exposure up to a height of almost 2000 

 metres |. Gerbe does not state in what part of this extensive 

 region the specimen or specimens described by liim were 

 obtained. 



Concerning the specific name ''incertus" : even if the 

 Geneva specimen proved to be different specifically from the 

 Southern France form described by Gerbe, the name cannot 

 be retained for the latter unless it could be shown to be 

 identical with a species from the St. Gothard (Switzerland), 

 for which it was originally nsed by De Selys. At the Second 

 Congress of Italian Scientists convened in Turin in Sept. 

 1840, De Selys declared " Arvicola incertus" to be a species 

 provisionally founded on two specimens from the summit of 

 St. Gothard, which are said to differ from A. Savii by larger 

 size, more robust feet, and more yellowish coloration of the 

 skin§. He is more explicit in a communication made at 



* V. Fatio, Faune Vert. Suisse, iii. App. pp. vii-ix. — Quite recently 

 (Arch. Sc. Pbys. et Nat. (4) xix. pp. 188-11J8, 1905) Dr. Fatio has 

 made i-emarks upon Microlus [Fitymys) suhtirraneus, De Selys, from 

 Switzerland. The .'specimens from the majority of Swiss looahties are 

 somewhat hesitatingly referred to a new subspecies or variety, mtdtiple.i: 

 I shall have to take this paper more fully into consideration in a future 

 note, and wish only to mention here that I find myself iu disagreement 

 ■with Dr. Fatio in -n'liat he considers to be the cranial characters 

 of typical M. subterraneus in specimens from *' France " : — " Face 

 superieure de la boite cranienue subarrondie et assez large eu arriere, 

 avec recouvremeut plutot etroit de I'o, cipital." This applies well to 

 the members of the duddecimcodattiS' group (iu which, however, the 

 ot' has invariably three internal angle.s), whereis typical subterraneun 

 skulls from Belgium, at my disposal, agreeing with the tig. '2hi)>, pi. iii. 

 of the ' Micromammalogie,' have precisely the characters assigned to the 

 new subspecies. Unless Dr. Fatio had before him a new, and as yet 

 undescribed form from some part of France, his supposed typical sub- 

 teiranei may be specimens of a species of the tluodeciincostatus group 

 in which, for one reason or other, the pattern of the m'' cannot be 

 made out. 



t Rev. et Mag. de Zool. (2) vi. pp. 607, GOB (1854). 

 t i62c/. (2)iv. p. .'30_y (1852). 



§ Atti Seconda Riuuioue degli Scienziati Italinni tenuta in Torino 

 nel Settembre del 1840,' p. 225 (Turin, 1841). 



