1877.] J. Anderson — On a Bamloo-rat. 149 



from the Salwin Hill Tracts. Dr. Anderson pointed out that Sir Stamford 

 Raffles had described a bamboo-rat, apparently from Malacca, under the name 

 of Mus Sumatrensis, and that the drawing of this form by Major Farquhar 

 to which Sir Stamford Raffles refers in his " Descriptive Catalogue* of a 

 Zoological Collection made in Sumatra", is now in the library of the Royal 

 Asiatic Society of London. This drawing Dr. Anderson had recently exa- 

 mined and he was thus enabled to state that while certain bamboo-rats 

 from Malacca in the Indian Museum agreed with the drawing, the present 

 living example from the Salwin Hill Tracts did not, and that there was a bam- 

 boo-rat in the Indian Museum from Tenasserim referred to Wiizomys Suma- 

 trensis, but which differed from the Malacca specimens and agreed with the 

 living animal now before the Society. Dr. Anderson was therefore inclined 

 to consider that two species had been confounded with each other under R. 

 JSumatrensis. McLelland, however, had described a bamboo-rat from Tenas- 

 serim as distinct from B. Sumatrensis, but Dr. Anderson had not been able to 

 identify B. cinerea, McLelland, with the Museum Tenasserim specimen nor 

 with the living animal from the Salwin Hill Tracts. This form from the 

 Salwin and Tenasserim is distinguished from R. Sumatrensis by its bright 

 golden red cheeks and sides of the head generally, by the absence of 

 white spots on the forehead, and by the dark iron-grey of the upper 

 parts (many of the hairs being white-tipped) becoming almost black on the 

 toj) of the head, where it abruptly ceases between the eyes in a sharp well- 

 defined point. The upper lip, chin, and upper part of throat white, also the 

 chest and belly, which are, however, more or less tinged with grey and reddish. 

 Lower portion of throat dark grey. The feet are sparsely clad and leaden 

 coloured, except the toes of the hind foot, which are fleshy white. The tail is 

 rather thick at the base, quite naked, not scaly, and of a leaden hue. Claws 

 rather broad and moderately strong. 



Measwements of the living adult ? specimen 



Tip of nose to ending of hair over root of tail, 14*75 



Ending of hair of body to tip of tail, 5*35 



Length of hind foot, 2.56 



Height of ear, 0*80 



Breadth of ear, 0*64 



Tip of nose to anterior angle of eye, 1'31 



Posterior angle of eye to ear, 1"29 



Length of eye, 0"39 



Breadth between eyes, 1*38 



„ „ external margin of nostrils, 050 



„ „ ears, 2*10 



of tail at base, 0*77 



9> 



* Trans. Lin. Soc. London, Vol. XIII (182), p. 258. 



