46 



SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 



The following are the dimensions of a skull : — 



Metre. Inches. 



Total length -030 1-17 



Breadth across zygomatic arches ...... - U16 0-64 



Do. between orbits -004 0'16 



Length of nasal bones ....... -012 0'48 



* Breadth of do. in front -004 ' 0*16 



Length of upper molars taken together .... •0045 0 1 8 



Distance from incisors to upper molars ..... "0085 0*34 



Length of lower jaw from condyle to symphysis . . . -0155 0-6 



This species is little more than a large brownish form of C. phceus, but it is so much larger 

 that it ought, I think, to be distinguished. I obtained one specimen in Northern Persia which 

 agreed in size very fairly with C. fulvus. 1 There appears to be a regular gradation of closely 

 allied forms of grey hamsters, commencing with the little C. areuarius* and ending with the 

 large C. isabeUhms, 3 which has the head and body 6 inches long without the tail. 



The only difference I can see between the specimens from Yarkand and Kashghar, and 

 those from the Pamir, is the much longer fur which the latter possess, in consequence, pro- 

 bably, of the colder chmate they inhabit. As ab'eady noticed under C. phceus, C. fulvus 

 has been found again associated with its smaller relative, by Captain Biddulph, in Giigit, 

 south of the dividing range between the upper Oxus and the Indus, and within the 

 territories of Kashmir. 



From C. {Cricetulus) griseus* the present form is distinguished by its larger size and 

 longer tail, by its rather darker colouration (judging at least by the figure of C. griseus) 

 and the absence of any dorsal band, and by the very different disposition of the tubercles on 

 the soles of the feet. 



A species recently described by Severtzoff under the name of Cricetus murium 5 is said 

 to resemble in appearance Arvicola arvalis, being dark greyish-brown above, ashy below ; the 

 length is 5 inches, of which the tail is 1^. This species is found in the Irtish and Ishim 

 rivers in South- Western Siberia. The species recorded by Severtzoff from Western Turkestan 

 are C. songarus, C. acredula, and C. eversmanni. C. phceus may very possibly occur also. 



33. Nesokia barclayana. PL Xa, fig. 1. 

 (or A. blythiana, var.) 



Mm {Nesokia) larclayanus, Anderson, J. A, S. B., 1878, vol. xlvii, Pt. 2, p. 229. 

 Nesokia indica, W. Blanf., J. A. S. B., 1875, xliv, Pt. 2, p. 108. 



1-5, Srinagar, Kashmir. 



When examining the rodents of Dr. Stoliczka's collection, I found it very difficult to 

 determine the species of Nesokia for want of examples. I have since obtained many speci- 

 mens from various parts of India, and Dr. Anderson has recently examined the large collec- 

 tion that has accumulated in the course of the last few years in the Indian Museum, with the 



1 Eastern Persia, ii, p. 58. 



2 Pallas, Glires, p. 265. 



3 De Filippi, Viaggio in Persia, p. 344. 



4 A. Milne-Edwards, Eech. Mamm, i, p. 133, PL XII, XIII. 



s Severtzoff, Turk. Jev., p. 82 : Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., July 1876, Ser. 4, xviii, p. 54. 



