PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



January 8th, 1839. 



Professor Owen in the Chair. 



Dr. Harlan read a paper entitled, " Description of a new species 

 of Meriones inhabiting the United States of North America." 



'* A male and female specimen of the species which it is now 

 proposed to add to the Fauna of the United States, were taken 

 some time during 1836, on the farm of Mr. Beck, in Philadelphia 

 County, a few miles north-east of the city. The female at tlie 

 moment of her capture carried several young, which adhered to tlie 

 teats firmly, notwitlistanding the violent efforts and leaps of the pa- 

 rent. 



" In the descriptive details which follow, the usual allowance 

 must be made when such are drawn from impaled skins." 



Meriones microcephalus. Mer. superiie nigro flavoque mixtis, flavo 

 ttpud later a prevalent e ornatus ; corpore subtits albescente,flavido 

 lavato ; auribus mediocribus, pilis Jlavis et nigris intermixtis, 

 intus atque extus instructis. 



" Male. Length of the body, three inches ; of the tail, four inches ; 

 total length of the hind leg, one inch four-eighths ; of the thigh, 

 three-eighths ; of the leg, five eighths ; of the foot, four-eighths. Five 

 toes behind ; four before ; with a rudimentary nailed thumb ; all the 

 toes sparsely hairy, and terminating in strong, sharp claws. 



" Colour above, plumbeous, interspersed with reddish fawn ; be- 

 low, white, similarly interspersed in a less degree, a lateral longi- 

 tudinal band of reddish fawn colour separating the sides from the 

 abdomen ; tail, sparsely hairy, dark coloured above, white beneath, 

 with a pencil of hairs at the extremity ; this member being propor- 

 tionably longer, and the head much smaller and more elongated than 

 in G. Canadensis. The last-named species has been figured by the 

 late Professor B. T. Barton, in the Transactions of the American 

 Philosophical Society, also in the Encyclopedie Methodique, but 

 was for the first time adequately described from living specimens in 

 the * Fauna Americana,' p. 15G, when specimens were deposited in 

 the cabinet of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia. 



" The subjects of the present memoir were placed in my hands 

 for description by Mr. Chaloner, a Member of the Academy, The 

 female is larger than the male, and of purer white beneath." 



No. LXXIII. PuUCliEUINGS 01' THE ZOOLOGICAL SoCIETY. 



