76 MhscelI<(neou.t. 



nature of the specimens has not been borne out by chemical ana- 

 lysis. Upon investigation the si)ecimens proved to be composed of 

 alternating layers of felspar and silica — to be, in fact, a species of 

 " graphic granite," as has been proved by an exhaustive examina- 

 tion conducted by Dr. Caipenter (^ Nature,' May 25th), in the re- 

 sults of which I entirely accjuiesce. AVhether the peculiar arrange- 

 ment of tlie minerals which constitute these specimens can be 

 assigned wholly to the operation of inorganic causes or not, is a 

 question which does not in tlie meanwhile admit of solution. 



1 remain, Gentlemen, 



Yours faithfully, 

 Penrith, May 30, 1876. H. Alleyne Nicholson. 



Description of a neiv Rodent from Central Asia. 

 By James Wood-Mason, Esq. 



Nesohia Scullyi. 



Fur fine and silky, above pale fawn-coloured, paling on the sides, 

 below, on the insides of the limbs, on the throat, lips, and cheeks 

 whitish, the hairs of the back being very dark slaty tipped with 

 very pale fawn, and those of the underparts much paler slaty tipped 

 with whitish. Face brownish grey. On the back, especially on the 

 sacral region, some hairs longer, but hardly coarser, than the rest 

 represent the coarse, flattened, spindle-shaped, grooved, and pro- 

 jecting bristle-like ones observed in Spalcu-omiis (^NesoJcia) indievs 

 and some other species ; these hairs have a dark brown or blackish 

 ring intervening between the slaty basal and the pale fawn apical 

 portion. One or two of the vibrissae reach the bases of the ears ; 

 two or three of them are black to the tips, most of them are tipped 

 with white ; a fringe of short, stiff, silvery ones on the upper lips. 

 Ears short, scarcely projecting beyond the fur, all but naked, being 

 sparsely clothed with an inconspicuous lanugo. Hands and feet 

 flesh-coloured, with a scanty covering of short hairs. Tail without 

 a single hair, shorter than the body, obscurely scaled, the scales 

 arranged, as usual, in rings. 



The Turki name for the animal is " Mughi." 



raillira. 



Length from tip of the snout to base of the tail 168 



Length of tail 132 



,, ears (at back) 12 



Breadth of ears (convex curvature) 11 



length of hand to tip of middle finger 23 



„ foot to tip of middle toe 43 



„ skull wi h incisors 48 



Interzygomatic breadth (at posterior root of zygoma). ... 28 



The first two of the above measurements were taken by Dr. Scully 

 on the dead body of the animal, and have been converted by me 

 from English inches into raiUimetres. 



IJab. A single male specimen was captured on June 11, 1875, at 

 iSanju, in Kashgharia, by Dr. J. ScuUy, the author of a valuable 



I 



