308 



RODENTIA 



MURID7F.. 



BROWN RAT. 



NORWAY RAT. 



Mus decumanus. (Pall.) 



Specific Character. Greyish-brown above, whitish beneath; ears one-third 

 the length of the head; tail shorter than the body. 



Mus decumanus, PALLAS, Glir. p. 91. GMEL. Syst. Nat. Linn. I. p. 127. 



DESMAR. Mammal, p. 473, sp. 473. FLEM. Brit. An. 



p. 20. JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 32. BLAS. Wirbelt. Deutsch. 



I. p. 313. 



BBISSON, Reg. An. p. 173. EBXLEB. Syst. p. 381, 1. 

 BUFFON, Hist. Nat. VIII. p. 206, t. xxvii. FR. CUVIER, 



Mammal. I. 

 PENN. Brit. Zool. I. p. 115. SHAW, Gen. Zool. II. p. 51, 



t. cxxx. 



,, norvegicus, 

 Surmulot, 



Norway Rat, 



THE geographical distribution of animals, although a 

 subject of great interest, and one which has of late years 

 occupied the attention of many eminent zoologists, is 

 not yet sufficiently understood to furnish any very well- 

 defined laws, either with reference on the one hand to 



