1881.] INDIAN SPECIES OF MUS. 523 



varieties, and also those of about forty species which are considered 

 as synonyms. 



With regard to what is here called " India," I have only taken 

 the country west of the 90th degree of longitude, so as to exclude 

 Assam and Burmah, as we have not yet sufficient material from these 

 countries for me to work out the numerous species described 

 from them. I hope, however, that Dr. Anderson or some one else 

 to whom the Calcutta Museum is available, will work out these forms, 

 the greater part of the species having been described by Mr. Blyth, 

 and the types preserved there. 



Before proceeding to a detailed account of the subgenera and 

 species, 1 have to thank those who have assisted me in various ways. 

 First, to Mr. W. T. Blanford I owe the most sincere thanks, not only 

 for the generous present of specimens mentioned above, but also for 

 constant aid given throughout the preparation of the paper, an aid 

 which has been of the greatest use to me from his extensive know- 

 ledge of India and its mammal fauna. I also owe my thanks to Dr. 

 Anderson, for examining for me several of BIyth's types, preserved 

 in the Calcutta Museum ; and to Dr. J. Scully for the use of his 

 specimens from Gilgit, a locality particularly interesting as being 

 just on the hue between the Palsearctic and Oriental zoological 

 regions. 



In this connection I must also record the very deep obligations I 

 am under to my late friend Mr. E. R. Alston, whose premature 

 death has deprived science of one whose careful and conscientious 

 work upon Mammals is well-known to all zoologists, and who, since 

 I first took up their study, has been a constant friend and helper to 

 me in my work on that branch of science of which he had so in- 

 timate a knowledge. 



The following are the subgenera into which the Indian species of 

 Mus have been divided : — 



1. Nesohia. Incisors very broad, finely sculptured in front. 

 Molars composed of transverse lamiuse. Size large ; form stout 

 and heavy ; tail rather short ; fur coarse, not spiny. 



2. Mus. Incisors narrow, smooth in front. Molars tubercular. 

 Pollex only with a nail, the other digits with sharp compressed 

 claws. Other characters variable. 



3. Leggada. Like Mvs, but the first upper molar with an extra 

 tubercle in front (see Plate LI. figs. 10, 11). Fur generally, but 

 not always, spiny ; size small ; tail short. 



4. Vandeleuria. Teeth as in Mvs. Both 1st and 5th digits of 

 fore and hind feet with a nail. Size small ; form slender and agile ; 

 fur soft ; tail very long. 



Subgenus Nesokia. 



Neotonia, Ell. Madr. Journ. x. p. 208 (nee Say and Ord), 1839. 

 Kesokia, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. x. p. 264, 1842. 

 The members of this subgenus may always be readily distinguished 

 by their bluff-headed and arvicoline aspect. Their dentition is 



34* 



