62 MR. 0. THOMAS ON THE MAMMALS OF [Jan. 19, 
14. Mus powers, Anders.! 
a.9. Machi, 8/5/81. 
There is nothing in Dr. Anderson’s description of his Mus bowersi 
absolutely to prevent the present specimen belonging to it; but the 
differential characters of these Muride@, obvious enough on actual 
comparison, are often so difficult of description that I should not be 
suprised if the present were to turn out to be distinct from M. bowersi, 
especially as the figure of that animal is by no means identical with 
Mr. Hume’s specimen, but is more similar to the species of the 
group to which M. germaini, M.-Edw., belongs. However, there 
can be no question that for the present the Manipur Rat should 
rather be referred to M. dowersi than be described as new. Dr. 
Anderson’s type was obtained at Hotha, Yunnan, at an elevation of 
4500 feet. 
15. Mus BERDMOREI, Bly. 
a, b. Kopum Thall, 11/2/81. 
These two specimens agree so closely with Blyth’s short descrip- 
tion? that I have no hesitation in referring them to his species, 
even though Blyth himself afterwards placed M. berdmorei asa 
synonym of MW. robustulus, Bly. (=M. ratius rufescens, Gr.), and 
though the locality of Blyth’s specimen, Mergui, Tenasserim, is so 
distant and has so different a fauna from Menipur. 
The following description, based on Mr. Hume’s two skins, will 
serve to supplement the short and unsatisfactory one given by 
Blyth :— 
eel colour clear slaty grey, the tips of some of the hairs 
brown and of others white, the mixture giving a very finely grizzled 
appearance to the back, in which no trace of yellow or fawn is present ; 
chin, chest, and belly pure white. Ears outside brown, inside silvery ; 
feet white ; tail bicolor, black above and white beneath for half its 
length, the terminal half white all round ; the tip not pencilled. 
Fur of only one sort, stiff and hispid, but with no trace of spines. 
Tail about the length of the head and body combined, or a little 
shorter. [Ears large and evenly rounded ; fifth hind toe reaching to 
the middle of the first phalanx of the fourth. Foot-pads large and 
prominent. 
Skull with its facial portion unusually long, nasals long and 
narrow, surpassing in length the ascending premaxillary processes ; 
supraorbital ridges well defined; anterior plate of zygoma well 
developed, very convex forward. Palate very long, the interval 
between the back of the incisors and the molars very much longer 
than usual ; palatine foramina rather short, terminating about 1mm. 
in front of m'; posterior nares opening at the level of the hinder 
edge of m’*. 
Incisors pale yellow, lightening to white at their tips, directed 
1 Zool. Yunn. Exp. p. 304, pl. xvii. (1878). 
2 J.A.S8. B. xx. p. 173 (1852). 
