6o6 MURID^— EPIMYS 



1778. Mus DECUMANUS, P. S. Pallas, Nov. Spec. Quad. e. Glir., 91 ; described from 

 Europe ; of Gmelin and most subsequent authors. 



1 779. M(us) SURMOLOTTUS, Severinus, Tentamen Zool. HungariccB, 73 ; described 

 from Central Europe. 



1800. M(us) d(ecumanus) hybrides, J. M. Bechstein, Pennanfs Allgem. 



Uebersicht d. vierfiiss. Thiere, ii., 713 ; described on p. 497 ; based upon a 



melanistic specimen for Waltershausen, Germany. 

 1800. Mus AMPHIBIUS, J. Landt, Forsog til en Beskrivelse over Faroeme, Kjoben- 



havn, p. 238 ; Fasroes. 

 1808. Mus FOSSOR, Walker, Essays, 497. 

 1816. Mus CASPIUS, Oken., Lehrb. d. Naturgesch., iii., pt. 2, 895 ; an alternative for 



decumanus. 

 1837. Mus HIBERNICUS, W. Thompson, Proc. Zool. Aj^., London, 52; based upon 



melanistic specimens from Rathfriland, Co. Down, Ireland, Nat. Hist. Ireland, 



iv., 16, 1856. 

 1908. Epimvs NORWEGICUS, Satunin, Mitth. Kauk. Mus., Tiflis, iv.. Lief. 1-2, iii. 

 1910. Mus (EPIMYS) NORVEGICUS and M. (E.) NORVEGICUS HIBERNICUS, E. L. 



Trouessart, Faune Mamtn. cPEurope, 142. 

 1912. Epimys NORVEGICUS, G. S. Miller, Cat. Mamm. West. Europe, 858. 



Le surmulot of the French {rat being the generic name); die 

 Wanderratte of the Germans. 



The synonymy given above relates to the Brown or Common Rat in 

 Europe. Specimens from other parts of the world, e.g., India, have 

 received further names, but these do not require consideration in the 

 present work. Up to 1900 practically all writers used Pallas's name 

 decumanus (1778) for this species ; but Rehn {loc. cit. supra) pointed out 

 that Erxleben's norvegicus {1777) must supersede decumanus. The 

 name norvegicus, however, dates from Berkenhout (1769), and since his 

 description was based ostensibly on British specimens, the type 

 locality is technically Britain and not Norway. As a name, norvegicus 

 is a complete misnomer, since the species is no more than a modern 

 introduction in Norway, as also in Britain ; moreover, many of the 

 pre-Linnsean writers, such as Ray, used " Mus norvegicus " (the spelling 

 subject to variation) as the name of the Norwegian Lemming. Such 

 objections, however, have no force technically, and on the ground of the 

 rule of priority, applied only to Linnaean writings, norvegicus must 

 stand as the trivial name of the present species. 



Terminology : — This is the " Norway Rat " of Pennant (Brit. Zool, 

 i., 115), Berkenhout (1769), Shaw, and Turton ; the "Brown Rat" of 

 Pennant {Quad., ed. 3, 1793, ii., 178) and most subsequent writers, 

 although some, like Bingley and Bell, retain " Norway Rat " as an 

 alternative name. Other names, which are or have been occasionally 

 used for it, are "Wharf Rat," "Barn Rat," "House Rat," "Gray 

 Rat," "Water Rat," and "Hanoverian Rat" (for origin of which 

 last, see below under History). It is now generally known as the 



