202 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



north. Yet this southern Eland was the first described, and 

 must stand as the type, of which more recent discoveries are 

 only subspecies. Other such instances of errors which we must 

 accept by the adoption of the priority system could easily be 

 noticed, and none, to my mind, are more glaring than that of 

 Mus rattus. 



The present case, that of retaining Linne's specific name for 

 what is undoubtedly only a subspecies, is one of those errors 

 which make one feel that one is only perpetuating a printer's 

 mistake by using it. In self-defence it is therefore necessary to 

 explain one's position. A name — a scientific name — should be 

 descriptive, or, if the animal be a local form, it should be desig- 

 nated by the name of the locality in Latin. But how often is 

 this the case ? 



Mus alexandrinus of Geoffroy is the eastern, and, according 

 to the best evidence, the parent form of a Eat which reached 

 Scandinavia from the east at a remote period. Here it became 

 locally altered in colour, and Linn6, only having this altered 

 form or subspecies available, described it (Linne, Syst. Nat. 

 ed. 12, vol. i. p. 83, 1766) prior to the time when Geoffroy wrote 

 his description of Mus alexandrinus (Geoffroy, Descr. de l'Egypte, 

 vol. ii. p. 753, 1812). We are therefore bound to adopt the 

 name of Mus rattus, as given by Linne, for the whole species. 

 But we are not necessarily bound to adopt this name for the 

 parent form, which practically ranks as a species. I hope there- 

 fore that the formation of three new subspecies — one of them 

 being a newcomer to England, and, in fact, a new subspecies 

 altogether — will simplify matters, and propose to use the follow- 

 ing nomenclature in the second volume of ' The Mammals of 

 Great Britain and Ireland,' which I have in preparation. 



The Black Eat (Mus rattus, Linnaeus). 



Mus rattus, Linn., Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 83 (1766) ; Bell, 

 Brit. Quad. 2nd ed. p. 302 (1874) ; Blanford, Mamm. Brit. India, 

 p. 406 (1891) ; Lydekker, Brit. Mamm. p. 191 (1895) ; John- 

 ston, Brit. Mamm. p. 241 (1903) ; Thomas, Zool. 4th ser. vol. ii. 

 p. 100 (1898). 



M. alexandrinus, Geoffroy, Descr. de l'Egypte, vol. ii. p. 753 

 (1812) ; Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1881), p. 533. 



