THE MOUSE FAMILY. 



105 



are here reduced, as in the Hares and Rabbits, so as to form only two small bony styles freely 

 suspended among the muscles, and that the first toe in the hind feet, although not very long, is so 

 attached as to be opposite to the rest, thus converting the organ into a prehensile hand which the 

 animal uses freely in climbing. The csecum is small. 



In its external characters this animal is as remarkable as in its anatomical structure. In 

 general appearance, as stated by its describer, it has much resemblance to a small Opossum, but the 

 bxishy tail and the peculiar arrangement of the hair on the body are met with in no Marsupials. The 

 head is small ; the general form stout ; the limbs short, and the hind ones not much longer than their 

 fellows ; and the ears are of moderate size and sparingly clothed with hair. The prevailing colour is 

 blackish-brown, but a triangular spot on the forehead, a streak under each eye, and the tip of the tail, 

 are white ; and the long hairs which clothe the body and tail are dark only in the middle, the base 

 and tip being white, as are also a great quantity of finer and shorter hairs which form a sort of under 

 fur. But the chief peculiarity of the coat is to be found in the arrangement of the hairs of the body. 

 The long hairs of the middle of the back and tail, some of which are nearly three inches in length, are 

 capable of being raised into a nearly upright position, forming a sort of crest which gives the animal a 

 very peculiar aspect, and this crest is separated from the pendulous hair of the flanks by a sort of 

 furrow clothed with very peculiar hair of a greyish-tawny colour. These hairs are unlike any others 

 known to occur among Mammals. The apical part is of the ordinary construction ; but the following 

 portion down to the base is " very rugose, and presents a spongy aspect, due to the interlacing, and, 

 so to speak, felting of a multitude of epidermic filaments emanating from radiate cells, which con- 

 stitute a perfect network of irregular meshes. Within the sort of sheath thus formed longitudinal 

 filaments which break up into bundles of fibrils are to be seen." 



Very little is known as to the habitat of this animal, which M. Milne-Edwards has named 

 Lophiomys Imhausi, the former name referring to the crested character of the back, the second com- 

 memorating the person who first brought the creature to the notice of naturalists. M. Imhaus, 

 stopping for a few hours at Aden on his way home from Reunion, saw a living specimen of this Rodent 

 in the possession of a negro from whom he bought it, but could learn nothing as to its origin. He 

 inferred, however, that it had not been brought very far, and that its native country was either 

 Southern Arabia, or some region in Abyssinia, or Nubia, on the other side of the Red Sea. This 

 specimen was brought to France, and lived for about a year and a half in the Garden of Acclimatiza- 

 tion in the Bois de Boulogne, where it fed upon maize, vegetables, and bread, slept during the day ? 

 and climbed with ease upon chairs and other convenient objects by the aid of its hinder hands. It 

 never took its food in the fore-paws to carry it to the mouth as so many Rodents do. When irritated 

 it elevated the crest right down to the end of the tail, and defended itself by biting vigorously. 



It is doubtful whether the Lophiomys inhabits Arabia, but it is found in the neighbouring parts 

 of Africa. Professor Peters described the skull of the 

 animal as representing a new generic type under the name 

 of Phractomys mthiops. His specimen was obtained by Dr. 

 Schweinfurth from the tombs of Maman, north of Kassala, 

 in Upper Nubia. A third specimen has been brought from 

 Keren in the Bogos country, and a fourth from the 

 Erkanid mountains between Suakim and Singat. 



FAMILY VII. MURID^E. 



We come now to the largest and most typical family of 

 the Rodents : that, namely, which includes the Rats and Mice 

 and their numerous allies. Mr. Wallace estimates the 

 number of known species at 330, which is probably within 

 the mark. All these forms agree in. the following charac- 

 ters : The lower incisors are compressed ; the molars are 



usually three in number on each side in each jaw, in one genus only two in the lower or in both 

 jaws, and in another four in both jaws. They are rooted or rootless, tubercular or flat, with folds of 



MOLAB TEETH OF THE BLACK RAT. 



