THE BARBARY MOUSE. 341 



of his Systema Nature. For a long period after that pub- 

 lication, it entirely eluded the observation of zoologists, until 

 of late, when a litter of five young ones was obtained at 

 Barbary, and three of them, having survived the passage to 

 England, were placed in the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens, 

 in 1828. Mr. Bennett, describing them, when they had been 

 in the collection above a year, says 



" They are intermediate in size to the common rat and 

 common mouse, while Linnaeus describes his to have been 

 smaller even than the latter ; but perhaps he had seen none 

 but smaller individuals j which supposition is in some degree 

 strengthened by his adding, that they were occasionally marked 

 by a scarcely perceptible line between the lateral stripes : a 

 circumstance which not unfrequently occurs in the young of 

 striped animals, and slight vestiges of this original marking 

 were visible in the society's specimens. In every other respect 

 the coincidence was complete. Their ground colour was dark 

 brown, marked on each side with five or six yellowish stripes, 

 about half as broad as the intervening spaces, extending along 

 the whole length of the body, and becoming confused towards 

 the under parts, which are nearly white. On the fore-feet only 

 three toes were at first sight observable j but on closer inspec- 

 tion, the rudiments of a thumb and also of a fifth toe were 

 detected. The teeth were precisely similar to those of the 

 other rats.* During their captivity, these animals appeared 

 healthy and lively ; and with reference to the habits of the 

 genus, were moderately tame, though shy and timid." 



* Mr. J. E. Gray, nevertheless, says that this animal belongs to his new 

 genus Golunda, which is characterized merely by having " the grinders, when 



