468 MESSRS. BLACKMORE AND ALSTON [June 16, 



common continental A. arvalis, and Cuvier probably Dever com- 

 pared the fossils with the former species. Prof. Owen rightly iden- 

 tified the Kirkdale and Kent's-Hole specimens in the British Mu- 

 seum with A. agrestis, though he retained the error of giving 

 " Mus arvalis of Pallas" as a synonym. Dr. Giebel, on the 

 strength of Cuvier' s remarks, bestowed the name Hypudceus buck- 

 landii on the Kirkdale Vole *. In 1852 M. Pomel described A. 

 arvaloides and A.joberti as allied to A. neglectus ( = agrestis, cf. 

 Blasius, Siiugeth. Deutschl. p. 372), and distinguished only by 

 slight cranial differences, to which no weight can be given. A. 

 agrestis has been found in many bone-caves and other deposits in 

 Britain. Mr. Sanford considers that in the Somersetshire specimens 

 the diastema between the incisors and molars is longer, and the 

 whole jaw straighter than in recent skulls. We have received jaws 

 from the fissures in the limestone rocks near Bath, which exactly 

 agree with recent specimens. 



The species is widely spread throughout Northern and Central 

 Europe, from Scandinavia and Finland to the Alps, but is most 

 plentiful in the North. It is the commonest species almost every- 

 where in Britain, though A. glareolus appears to exceed it in num- 

 bers in some parts of Scotland. 



The teeth of A. agrestis may be recognized at a glance, by the 

 fact that the second upper molar has five cemental spaces instead of 

 four. The third upper molar sometimes shows a very minute sup- 

 plementary angle on the outside ; this we have found both in recent 

 and fossil skulls. The pattern is : — 



Upper I. 5 spaces, 6 angles. Lower I. 9 spaces, 10 angles. 

 „ II. 5 „ 6 „ „ II. 5 „ 6 „ 



„ III. 6 „ 7 or 8 „ „ III. 3 „ 6 „ 



We have examined the specimens in the British and Taunton Mu- 

 seums and in our own collection. 



7. Arvicola arvalis (Pallas). 



1873. Arvicola arvalis 1, Forsyth Major, Atti Soc. Ital. Sc. Nat. 

 xv. p. 589. 



Several jaws found in fissures in the limestone rocks near Bath, 

 which have been sent to us by our friend Mr. Moore, belong un- 

 doubtedly to a small group of Voles comprising A. arvalis, A. saxa- 

 tilis, and A. gregalis, none of which are now natives of Britain. 

 These species agree so closely in dentition that it is impossible to 

 decide positively to which the fossils should be ascribed. In size 

 and proportions they agree very closely with Siberian skulls of A. 

 saxatilis in the British Museum ; but they also much resemble some 

 specimens of A. arvalis. As Dr. Forsyth Major has lately doubt- 

 fully referred similar examples (found in the Cavern of Levrange 



* Through a misreading of Cuvier's observations on the remains of Mures 

 found by Buckland in the same cave, Giebel founded his Hyp. minimus (I. c. 

 p. 88), which, consequently, is a synonym of some species of Mouse, probably 

 M. sylvaticus (cf. Hensel, /. c. p. 484). 



