156 MAMMALS OF BERMUDA. 
to lye in Irons 48 hours w™ addicon of such other severe punishm* as 
shalbe inflicted upon them. And what soeut pson or psons that shall 
at any tyme fynde any Ambergreece and not within the space of tenne 
dayes bringe or sende the same to the Gouernot or give notice thereof 
vnto him where he or thay shall receive content after the rate of the 
moitie of the halfe the Ambergreece eu'y ounce shall not only lose the 
profit for finding thereof But also undergoe the aforesaid punishment 
with severity of Justice w° in that case shall surely be executed.” 
The weight of the several pieces of ambergris found at different times 
since the islands were settled appears to have varied greatly. In 1611 ° 
one is recorded of the enormous bulk of 80 pounds; in 1620, one of eight 
ounces; in 1625, one of nine ounces; in 1626, one of 2 ounces, and another 
the same year of 193 ounces. Of late years it appears to have been 
rarely found. 
Order INSECTIVORA. | 
Family SORICID A. 
SoOREX 2 
During one of our first visits to the islands several years ago we cap- 
tured what we believed to be a member of this family, but the specimen 
was unfortunately lost. During our last visit, in the winter of 1876~77, 
we gave chase to what we were almost positive was a specimen, running 
on the side of a by-road in Devonshire parish, but it proved too nimble 
and escaped. The peculiar dark velvety look of the fur and the small 
size of the animal was quite sufficient to distinguish it from a common 
mouse. We have, moreover, received the testimony of reliable persons 
as to a mouse of this description being occasionally caught, so we think 
it admissible to register the unknown under its generic name. 
Order RODENTIA. 
Family MURID Ai. 
MUS DECUMANUS, Pallas. 
‘Norway Rat”; “Brown Rat.” 
Mus decumanus, Pallas, Glires, 1778, 91.—Schreber, Siugt. IV, 645; tab. elxxviii.— 
Keyserling und Blasius, Eur. Wirb. I, 1842, 36.—De Kay, N. Y. Zool. I, 1842, 
80.—Wagner, Suppl. Schreb. III, 1843, i.—Burmeister, Thiere Brasiliens, I, 
1854, 152.—Anud. and Bach, N. Am. Quad. II, 1851, 22, pl. liv. 
Mus norvegicus, Erxleben, Syst. An. I, 1776, 381. 
The introduction of rats upon an oceanic island at a period anterior 
to its occupation by man can only be due to the arrival, or destruction, 
