THE MOUSE TRIBE. 



123 



of which there are three in the first tooth of the series, and two in each of the 

 others. The incisor teeth are very broad, with smooth front surfaces. The muzzle 

 is unusually short, the profile convex, and the ears rather small ; while the feet are 

 characterised by their great breadth, and the large size of their claws. The tail is 

 shorter than the head and body, and sparsely -haired. The hair is rather long and 

 coarse, and darker on the muzzle, the sides of the face, the back of the head, the 

 shoulders, and the fore-part of the back than elsewhere. 



THE HAMSTERS AND WHITE-FOOTED MICE. 

 Genus Cricetus. 



The well-known hamsters of the Old World, together with the American 

 white-footed mice, constitute an extensive genus of murine Rodents, which, with 

 others, represents a distinct subfamily. These Cricetines, as all the members of 



THE HAMSTER ( liat. size). 



the subfamily may be called, are characterised by the crowns of their molar teeth 

 carrying a number of distinct tubercles or cusps, which in the upper jaw are 

 arranged in two longitudinal rows separated by a median groove ; these teeth being 

 always implanted in the jaw by distinct roots. The whole of the Old World 

 Cricetines are characterised by the shortness of their tails ; but in some of the 



