7232 Quadrupeds. 



extricate himself by leaning on the reeds. The mission of such books 

 is to invite readers to observe for themselves. — E. N, 



^ The Natural History of the Tineina.'' Vol. V ; containing Cole- 

 ophora, Part II. By H. T. Stainton, assisted by Professor 

 Zellee, J. W. Douglas and Professor Frey. 228 pp. 

 letterpress ; 8 coloured plates. Price 12s. Qd. 



I can say nothing in praise of this volume that I have not already 

 said of its predecessors. The obsen'ations are invaluable, and the 

 plates of the highest excellence. — E. N. 



The New British Rat (Mus Alexandrinus). — In the ' Field' of the 1st of September 

 I see reference made by Mr. Newman to a communication which I read before the 

 Linnean Society some time since respecting a rat which had never before been recog- 

 nised by any scientific naturalist as a member of the British fauna. My communication 

 was not made to the Zoological Society six months ago, as stated by Mr. Newman, but 

 to the Linnean Society two years ago, when I exhibited several living specimens of 

 the new rat as well as some of the old English black rat (Mus Rattus), with which it 

 had by some been confounded. On a subsequent occasion I read a further communi- 

 cation to the same Society, on the distinctive anatomical characters of the two species, 

 especially in reference to their crania. I did not, as stated by Mr. Newman, " speak of 

 the new rat as a novelty;" on the contrary, I mentioned that it had long been known 

 by those who dealt in rats for sporting purposes, but it had, until then, eluded the 

 search of scientific naturalists. Further, I said that the rat would probably turn out 

 to be the Mus Alexandrinus of GeofFioy St. Hilaire, whose figure of that species it 

 resembled. The species of rat now under consideration has long been known to the 

 ratting fraternity as the " ship " rat, or *' snake " rat, but is rejected by them on account 

 of its extreme activity, which enables it to scale with a bound the walls of the ratting- 

 pit. This rat is rather smaller than either of the other rats met with in this country. 

 The tail is enormously long, and the ears exceedingly thin and large ; the hair of the 

 body is fine and silky, and varies in hue from blackish slate-colour to brown-gray. The 

 thighs are very large and muscular, and doubtless it is this circumstance which enables 

 the animal to bound with such agility. It is very fierce and voracious. That the rat 

 mentioned by Mr. Francis Francis is the new one, and that it is the Mus Alexandrinus, 

 is very probable, but if Mr. Newman were practically acquainted with the difficulty of 

 making out with absolute certainty the specific limits of these cosmopolitan rodents, 

 so subject to variety, so ready to cross-breed, he would, I think, speak a little more 

 guardedly. I have not had an opportunity of comparing an English specimen with 

 an undoubted Mus Alexandrinus from Alexandria, but one of the keepers at the Zoolo- 

 gical Gardens, Eegeut's Park, tells me that some years since several were received 

 from Alexandria, and they were exactly like my specimens. I have recently received 

 some rats from one of the West India Islands ; they inhabit and live upon the growing 

 heads of certain palm trees. They are not, as far as external characters go, to be dis- 



