186 ON SMALL MAMMALS FROM EASTERN AFRICA. [Mar. 3, 



12. Mus DOLiCHURUS, Smuts. 



a-d. $ and 3 young ones. Mount Elgon. 2/90. 



" Found in a Barbet's nest in a hole in a tree in thick forest." 



Mus arborariios, Peters \ originally described from the Zambezi, 

 and recorded by Pagenstecher from Mguruman, Masai-land, is no 

 doubt synonymous with the earlier described M. dolichurus ". So 

 also, in all probability, is the same author's 31. rutilans^ from the 

 Cameroons, while a specimen from Fayum, Egypt, in the Berlin 

 Museum, which is marked " Mus argillosus, Licht." ^, appears also 

 to be the present form. The species therefore ranges over the 

 whole of Africa, from Egypt to the Cape, although it is evidently 

 very rare, as so few specimens have been brought to Europe. 



The three young ones, taken from the nest by Mr. Jackson, are 

 clothed with straight crisp hairs above and are nearly naked below ; 

 their upper surfaces are of a dark mouse-grey colour with prominent 

 yellowish patches behind the ears ; their chins, chests, and bellies 

 are bordered with bright cream-colour. As in other long-tailed 

 species, the tails of the young are comparatively short, barely equalling 

 the length of the body without the head. 



13. Mus (IsoMYs) ABYSsiNicus, Riipp. 

 a, h. Turquel, Siik. 1/90. 



14. Mus (IsoMYs) PUMiLTO, Sparrm. 

 a, b. Mianzini. 8/89. 



1.5. Rhizomys annectens, sp. n. 



a. Ad. S ' Tyxw of species. 



(?) 6, c. Yg. Mianzini. 8/89. 



Like B. splendens, Riipp., but considerably larger, although not 

 attaining the size of B. macrocephalus, liiipp. 



Dimensions of a :— Head and body (circa) 240 millim. ; tail 45 ; 

 hind foot, without claws 29, with claws 33. 



Skull dimensions : — Basion to gnathion 51 ; basion to front sur- 

 face of one of the incisors 52 ; zygomatic breadth 39-4 ; nasals, length 

 21, greatest breadth J-Q; breadth between outer corners of infra- 

 orbital foramina 15-3; diastema 21-5; combined breadth of upper 

 incisors 8-2 ; length of upper molar series (crowns only) lO'O. 

 Lower jaw, length (bone only) 36 ; back of condyles to incisor tips 



43-5. ^ , , „ 



The basal length of the skull of B. macrocephalus appears, from 

 Riippell's figures, to be about Q'd millim., while that of the largest of 

 six specimens of B. splendens in the British Museum is only 41. 



1 Saugeth. Mossamb. p. 152 (1852). 



2 En. Mamm. Cap. p. 38 (1832). . . 



3 MB Ali Berl. 1876, p. 478. The type of this species is said to have only 

 0— 2=4:'mamm£e ; but this is probably an abnormality, as there is a specimen 

 in the Museum from the Niger with the usual number, 1- 1.- 6. 



-1 No description pnblished, so far as I can ascertain. The specimen was 

 collected by Hemprich and Ehrenberg. 



