528 MR. Vf. L. SCLATER ON SOME INDIAN MURIDiE. [June 17, 



18. Mus scBLiMis, Blanford, Tarkand Mammals, p. 51. 



This species is closely allied to Mies urbanns : it differs in having a 

 slightly longer hind foot, with the tubercles very far apart from each 

 other ; the skull differs from those of Mtis urhanus and M. hacirianus 

 in having the zygomatic arches very strongly incurved ; the palate is 

 also peculiar, the posterior nasal opening being particularly wide, 

 and its edges and the pterygoids all very much thickened, so that 

 the under surface of the skull has a very different appearance from 

 that of ^lus urhanus. 



This species has been only found in the higher regions of Central 

 Asia — once by Stoliczka west of the Pankong Lake iu Ladak, at a 

 height of 13,000 feet above the sea, and once by Col. Biddulph 

 (Scully, Ann. Mag. N. H. (5) viii. p. 99) in the Astor district of 

 Kashmir, at a height of 11,000 feet. 



19. Mrs AEiANrs, Blanf. ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 548. 



This species is closely allied to Mus sylvaticus of Europe ; it is, as 

 Thomas has pointed out, distinguishable by its shorter hind foot ; the 

 following measurements seem to show that though the length of the 

 hind foot of Mus stflvaticits does not invariably surpass the distance 

 between the muzzle and the ear, yet the difference between the two 

 is much less than in Mus arianus : — 



a. 



Hind foot -86 



Muzzle to ear . . -89 



The skull of Mus arianus is considerably larger than that of Mits 

 urbanus, but the proportions are much the same except with regard 

 to the nasals, which are very much longer, and to the anterior pala- 

 tine foramen, which is much shorter and does not reach the level of 

 anterior line of the molars. 



20. Mus WAGNEEi, Eversmann. 



Mus pachycercus, Blanford, Yarkand Mammals, p. 53. 



The short-tailed House-Mouse of Central Asia, described as a new 

 species by Blanford, has been since identified by Biichner (Eesult. 

 Przewalsky's Reise, Saugethiere, p. 88) with a species described by 

 Eversmann in 1848 from a specimen collected on the steppes between 

 the Volga and the Ural. Examples of it were got by Przewalsky 

 from a great number of localities throughout Turkestan and Mon- 

 golia, and it seems to be the common House-Mouse of all Central 

 Asia. There is also a skin of a Mouse procured by Mr. Blanford at 

 Eesht on the Caspian, which has hitherto remained unnamed, and 

 which seems referable to this species. 



This Mouse cannot in any way be considered an Indian species, 

 as it has never occurred this side of the Kuenluen Mountains ; it has, 

 however, been included in this paper, because the types of Mus 

 pachycercus of Blanford are in the Indian Museum. 



