! 



' 



t 



118 MAMMALIA. GLIRES. 



Romans, who fattened them for the table in receptacles called GKraria* The com- 

 mon Dormouse has the same habits. 



M. nitela, Desm. Garden Dormouse. Fur gray brown above, whit- 

 ish below j a black spot round the eyes extending to behind the 

 ear ; tail long, black, with a white tuft at the end. Inhabits 

 Europe. Buff. viii. pi. 24. 



M. avellanarius, Desm. The Common Dormouse. Fur clear fawn- 

 colour above, whitish below ; tail the length of the body, flatten- 

 ed horizontally, the hairs distichous. Europe. B. Schreb. pi. 227* 



M. murimiSy Desm. Fur gray, paler beneath ; tail as long as the 

 body, flattened, with distichous hairs. Cape of Good Hope. 

 F. Cuv. Mam. No. 17- ' 



M. Africanus, Shaw. Fur pale ferruginous above, whitish beneath, 

 with a white line above each eye ; tail black in the middle 

 Shaw, ii. 172. 



Gen. 97. HYDROMYS, Geoff. Cuv. Mus. Gmel. 



Incisors f , canines g-g, molars f-f , =12. Molars with flat crown, 

 the plates of enamel having the appearance of the figure 8, 

 with two hollows ; ears small and round ; feet pentadactyle, 

 the toes of the hind-feet united by a membrane ; tail cylin- 

 drical, covered with hair and pointed. 



H. chrysogaster, Geoflv Fur chestnut above, orange-coloured below. 

 One foot long. Van-Dieman's Land. An. Mus. vi. pi. 36. 



H. leucogaster y Geoff. Fur brown above, white below. Van-Dieman's 



Land. One foot long An. Mus. vi. pi 36. 

 H. Coupusy Geoff. The Coypou. Fur brown chestnut on the back, 



red on the flanks, and light brown on the belly. Twenty inches 

 ' long. Inhabits South America. An. Mus. vi. pi. 35. 



This species is the type of M. F. Cuvier's genus Myopotamus. It is nearly al- 

 lied to the beaver, and its fur is known in trade by the name of Racoonda, and used 

 in the manufacture of hats* J^wcJ*"" {Jl^TA *"" 



Gen. 98. Mus, Lin. Cuv. Rattus-, Penn. 

 Incisors f, canines g-g, molars f-f, 16. Molars with tu- 

 berculous crowns ; four toes and rudimentary thumb on the 

 fore-feet ; hind-feet with five unguiculated toes ; ears oblong 

 or round, naked; tail long, naked and scaly ; fur with scattered 

 hairs, longer and stiffer than the others, sometimes forming 

 a kind of spines. 



* Spineless rats of the Old Continent. 



M. giganteuSy Hardwick. The Malabar Rat. Fur of an obscure 

 brown on the back, gray under the belly; feet black. Body above 

 a foot long. Inhabits Malabar Lin. Trans, vii. t. 8. 



M. Javanusy Desm. Fur brown red above, extremities of the feet 

 whitish ; tail shorter than the body ; feet not palmated. Nine 

 inches long. Inhabits Java. Mam. 298. 



