56 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



ing its teeth on candy toys. It was a great drinker, lapping 

 water like a dog. In defending itself it would stand on its 

 hind legs and strike with great force with the fore feet, at the 

 same time laying hold on an object thrust toward it with great 

 strength and forcing it toward a distant part of the cage. The 

 odor of this animal, even under ordinary conditions of care, 

 is almost suffocating, and far more mephitic than that of the 

 Norway Rat. When investigating an object, the coarse and 

 prominent whiskers of this rat are vibrated with astonishing 

 rapidity, forming a sort of halo about the face because of their 

 incessant motion. The function of these organs must be 

 highly specialized in this Neotoma, and undoubtedly has to do 

 with its subterranean habits. On no occasion did any of my 

 caged rats utter a cry, save a sort of grunting squeak when 

 they yawned forcibly. 



General characters. Resembling those of the Norway Rat, 

 Mus decumanus , in proportion, but distinguished by greater 

 size, larger ears and eyes, thicker, shorter, and more hairy 

 tail, white feet, darker pelage, and enormous whiskers. The 

 skull of this animal is instantly recognizable from that of 

 Mus decumanus by its great size, lack of supraorbital ridges, 

 and the flat, prismatic-crowned, molar teeth. It is distin- 

 guished from its southern ally, Neotoma floridana, by greater 

 size, hairy, bicolored tail and grayer (less brown) color, and 

 cranially by the relatively heavier dentition, smaller auditory 

 bullae and heavier and blunter rostrum, flattened upper 

 profile, and narrow postpalatal foramen. 



Color. Above, uniform tawny, or buffy gray, lined with 

 coarser black hairs, darkest along upper head and back, the 

 buff predominating along the sides; becoming nearly pure 

 along the line of separation from the white of under parts, 

 and reaching down sides of neck to or across the fore breast. 

 Feet from wrists and ankles, white ; soles naked, heel hairy. 

 Ears large, rounded, sparsely haired inside and out, a pencil 

 of white hairs at their posterior bases. Upper tail as dark or 

 darker than back, beneath white, like the whole of under 

 parts. Whiskers reaching to or behind shoulders, coarse at 

 base, but finely tapering and elastic, the smaller white, the 

 coarser black, with white tips. 



Cranial characters. Greatest length nearly twice the 



