166 W. T. Blanford— On Golunda Ellioti. [No. 3, 



a very different form. The only murine genus of which I could find a 

 description with dentition resembling that in the Sind species was Pelo- 

 mys* of Peters, founded on an African rat from Mozambique. I conclud- 

 ed that the Sind rat was a new species of Pelomys, and I proposed to call it 

 P. Watsoni. This name was unfortunately ptiblished in the Proceedings 

 of the Society for August before I had ciscovered my mistake. 



For this discovery I am indebted to Professor Peters, to whom I sent 

 a sketch of the molars of the Sind rat, which I asked him to compare with 

 those of Pelomys. This he did and told me that they agreed. He also 

 called my attention to the circumstance that the coffee-rat of Ceylon, of 

 which he had received a specimen, closely resembled Pelomys in its denti- 

 tion and even in its external characters, and he suggested that the genera 

 Golunda and Pelomys were identical. Upon this I re-examined the speci- 

 mens marked Golunda Ellioti in the Museum, and to my surprise found 

 that they coincided with mine from Sind ; and the skull of one specimen 

 which Dr. Anderson very obligingly allowed to be extracted for me proved 

 identical with that of the Sind rat. I, however, noticed that in these speci- 

 mens, perhaps because they have been exposed for years, the grooved hail's 

 have split at the ends, and present the appearance of ordinary round or near- 

 ly round hairs, so that it is necessary to examine the fur closely in order to 

 detect its peculiarity. I also find that the Sind rat agrees excellently 

 in characters and dimensions with Kelaart's original description,f and that 

 Mr. BlythJ has already called attention to the differences between the 

 coffee-rat of Ceylon and the description of the Gulandi (l£us hirsutios, 

 Elliot, said to be identical with Golunda Ellioti, Cray) given by Mr. (now 

 Sir Walter) Elliot. § I ought not to have overlooked these facts, but I must 

 say in apology that I do not think any one could have identified the Sind 

 rat from the published descriptions of Golimda Ellioti. 



Before discussing the synonymy of this rat, I will give a description 

 of the Sind specimen. 



Description taken from an adult female specimen preserved in spirit. 

 General colour brown above, the colour not behig uniform but a mixture of 

 black and fulvous, dirty white (isabelline) below. The hairs are very flat 

 with a broad groove down one side. The fur is harsh, dusky grey at the 

 base, then darker, tawny towards the extremities on the back, pale tawny 

 on the abdomen ; numerous longer hairs, either blackish throughout, or 



* Eeise nach Mossambique, Saugetniere, p. 157, PI. XXXIII, Fig. 3, XXXV, 

 Fig. 9. 



f Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicse, p. 67. 



% J. A. S. B., 1863, p. 351, and Catalogue Mam. Mus. As. Soc. p. 121, foot-note. 



§ Mad. Jour. Lit. Sci. 1. c. 



