40 



MAMMALOGY. 



one or the other of the species the names of which we have provision- 

 ally inserted as synonymes, we have not at the present time the facili- 

 ties for making an examination of a satisfactory or conclusive character 

 in this extensive and difficult genus. The same remark applies 

 equally well to the succeeding species. 



3. Mus viTiENSis, Peale. — The Feejee Rat. 



Mas viliensis, Peale, Zool. Exp. Exp. Mamm. p. 49 (1st ed. 1848). 



Atlas, Mammalogy, Plate IV, Fig. 2. 



This is another species, very considerably resembling the common 

 rat, but differs in several characters, amongst which may be mentioned 

 the comparatively longer tail and the different texture of the pilage, 

 and also its apparently uniformly smaller size. It was observed in- 

 habiting the Feejee Islands, and though specimens in good preservation 

 are in the collection of the Expedition, we think it necessary to give 

 Mr. Peale's description and notes only, which, with our plate, are 

 sufficient for the identification of the species : 



" M. Cauda caput corpusque hngitudine superante, forma tenui ei gratiosa, 

 inlls subtilihus, longis, speciem sericam gerentibus, colore, supra sepioe 

 hrunneo, infra pt^'ope alho, p)edihus magnis, cdhis, pollice brevi ungue 

 compJanato, cauda pcdiide gilva, cum squamis brunneis exiguis quoi 

 puis subtilibus sericis vestiuntur, oculis mediocribus nigris, auribiis 

 magnis, rotundatis et molliter serico-pilosus, laniariis parvis et flavido 

 albis. Femina. 



Tail, longer than the head and body; form, light and graceful; hair, 

 fine, long, and silky in texture ; color, sepia brown above, nearly 

 white beneath ; feet, large, white ; thumb, short, with a flattened 

 nail ; tail, pale flesh-color, with very small brown scales, and 

 covered slightly by fine silky hairs; eyes, of a moderate size, black; 

 ears large, rounded, and covered with silky hairs; incisors small, 

 and of a yellowish-white color. 



" Length of the head and body, three and one-tenth inches ; tail, 

 three and four-tenths inches ; head, one and one-tenth of an inch ; 



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