Quadrupeds. 7379 



which the jaw belonged, although not precisely like S. citellus of the Altai mountains, 

 to which it was first attributed, was no doubt the equivalent of that species inhabiting 

 this intermediate space between the Old and New World ; and it is my opinion that 

 the climate of this country has not undergone any material change since these lime- 

 stone hills of ours possessed those little creatures alive and in full activity. These 

 may have existed, and probably did exist, even up to the lime when man took 

 possession of this island, and indeed may have been exterminated by him. As the 

 other species of this family are used as food, these in all probability were used as food 

 also. And if we picture the Altaio at the present time with what our Mendips and 

 other ranges of limestone hills once were, we shall see a very great resemblance, both 

 in its fauna and the crops which they both sustained around them. At the town of 

 Fykalka, situated on the southern slope, at the height of 4000 feet above the sea, the 

 land is cultivated with success, yielding barley, rye, oats, millet and summer wheat, 

 besides garden vegetables. The little marmot, which inhabits these regions near the 

 snow line, is preyed upon by the glutton : the bear, the wild sheep (Ovis argali), 

 Cervus Elaphus, C. Alces, &c., climb about the craggy heights, while below roam the 

 tiger, &c. Now, if we build up the bony structures which are found in these caverns 

 of our hills, and clothe them with flesh and give them life, — the lions, hysenas, wolves, 

 sheep and deer, — with Elephas primigenius and E: antiquus feeding on the young 

 green boughs of the willows and birch, with perhaps Bos longifrons and B. Urns 

 roaming in the boggy ground in the distance, and Urocerus liibernicus and Strogylo- 

 cerus spelaeus bounding across the plain, I think the picture of our Altai, the Men- 

 dips, may be compared to that of the Altai proper of the present time. What can 

 have caused the death of so many animals in this country, both carnivorous and 

 granivorous, when similar ones are living as it were in a similar condition to 

 those which existed some years ago, is a problem I am not prepared to answer. They 

 must have gradually died out from or through some, to us, unknown cause. I say 

 gradually ; and it must have been so, from the circumstance of the bones being found 

 as it were in layers, or rather mixed with mould and dirt, in some places to eight or 

 ten feet thick, just as the deer, &c., were hauled in to be devoured by bear or hyaena, 

 which ever occupied the den ; so that it is quite evident they were not destroyed by 

 any sudden catastrophe, but that they gradually became extinct. A casual observer 

 of these caverns would be led perhaps to other conclusions by their water-worn 

 appearance inside, — an appearance which I cannot satisfactorily account for. The 

 outside presents no particular worn appearance, but has| the sharp angles familiar to 

 every one who visits these hills. — Edward Parfitt ; Exeter, January 31, 1861, 



Occurrence of the Harvest Mouse (Mus messorius) in Banffshire. — Although the 

 harvest mouse has long been considered an inhabitant of Banffshire, yet the fact, so 

 far as I am aware, could never be satisfactorily established. Mr. Wallas Gardiner, of 

 Greenskairs, parish of Gamrie, having occasionally seen on his property what appeared 

 to him a curious and very small mouse, mentioned the fact to an acquaintance, who 

 expressed a wish to see a specimen. Shortly afterwards two of the said mice were 

 sent here for inspection, and proved to be the veritable Mus messorius of White, the 

 very species which I had been so long and so anxiously in search of. Need I say 

 with what delight my poor old eyes fell for the first time on these little gems of the 

 quadruped world, or how long I looked at them, how often I turned and re-turned 

 them, and with what tender care T stroked them ? I may, however, mention that one 

 of them — and they both seemed about the same — which 1 measured, and which is 



