MAMMALIA. 
41 
:)ri ,V remark si & n °' V ^ le fluestion. of nomenclature, it may be as well, before making 
Piiaiom YS) nolk ] ^ 5 < l ll0 ^ e Mr. Blyth’s description l. c. in full. It runs as follows : — 
ni °lo°tj s jj 0r y^ a ' Similar to Arvicola, but more robust, with a well-developed thumb and nail to the 
s ^ >,i- Lbl'cuim c nd k densel y cIad with short adpressed hairs. Upper rodent tusks inconspicuously grooved. 
er speeimAn 1 i'"’ *' Length of a female containing six foetus 64 inch, of which tail f inch p of a 
y »** da m , x - T Of Which 
le '°wer pjijig s f ‘ Lur dense, very sof 
Ears , 5 an( l tail white, a little 
_ i - -- tail 1 1 inch, of hind-foot claws (sic, probably a misprint for kind 
r dense, very soft, and fine; the surface fine greyisli-brown on the upper parts; 
Jill ’s fon U( ] ] „ ;u white, a little sullied; basal two-thirds or more of the upper fur dark slaty. 
It iS) fj ” ! nu<hum ^e, rather apprised « 
S^nus f'haiorn ^ from the above, that Mr. Blyth based the distinction between his 
thumb; neither tb. UC chiefly on the presence in the former of a claw to the rudimentary 
^his claw j g le & e ueral form nor the tail affording any distinctive character of importance. 
8tfl l larger numbpj ^ sorQe species of the genus Arvicola, but present, I think, in a 
is present, for instance, in the common water rat, A . amphibim ; Pallas 
is * ^ nam 
it is desc 'w ant ^ A. saxatilis, 6 it being very minute in A. gregalis and A rufilus; 
s °hie Asiatic f as absent in A. alii arms? Its presence lias, moreover, been noted in 
foandti 10 j 01 desci ‘ihed in more recent works, as A. amnrensis, 6 A. maximoiciczii, 9 
^Stalls * 4 „ 1 f^ ence 111 a more or less rudimentary form in A. socialist A. ceconomus , 3 A. 
s, 5 r ’ ‘ 
id f 
LS ( 
SCll'j 
of the” Uei0n S t0 
one 
teeth 
^ lo v ery different sections of the genus as distinguished by the characters 
Prism on the* 0 ^ 0 ^** an< ^ ^ ‘ * >ran, dti> f°r instance, having, according to Milne-Edwards, 13 
* 4 ' ni(X ' t Aari hu ^u lnrier s Me of the last upper molars, in addition to those found in A. obscurus > 
J* a wide kn 0 w]M man ^ °^ lcr species ; secondly, that careful and well-informed observers, 
’ le thumb a cha • 7 ^ °*' ^ le S enus > have not considered the presence or absence of a claw on 
Un . d tastly j tb a t 17° f r . ol su fhcient importance to justify its being used for generic distinction ; 
llc h have it welM 1S an admos t complete gradation from species wanting the claw to those 
... tlut if ' ( V( '' 0 ped, through forms in which it is more or less rudimentary. 
lan ged, as tbere^ 6 ^ eucurus be relegated to the genus Arvicola, the name must be 
ij, vj ls an leucurus of Gerbe, 16 described from the Alps of Provence in 
and the tairn'o- 3, mis P ri nt for li T , , ,, . 
2 Cl- 1 “°- 1 ‘ Aneo baM gives as the measurement of the total length 6 T 6 inches, of which the head was 1'30, 
■i T. res ’P. 220 . 
i T , b " P- 234 
s ’ P- 244 
6 P* 248 
7 U ’ P- 256. 
- P" 253. 
H^-Ikiaen s . 
th « d a Pud Midf| tn T*L 0st - Si Wn, i, p. 199, PI. VII, fig. 3. 
1®, nak i- ............. 
ls A -- U ' frfiasii 2 o(i„ ran y. S lew " ' n % u ns 3 representing the skeleton. The original description of the species is in the 
igen im Amur-Lande, i, p. 129. 
Add, 
109, PI. XI, figs. 1 — 5. Although the presence of the claw is not mentioned 
* **• z; 
' ‘'lam.. „ to, ’• “bm. p. 129, PI. XiJ, XIII 
rare book. 
•*Ul, ’» P. 131 J j * ’ ^ AJLU. 
This c i xsxvii, p , ( .'^ Ve un Portunately been unable to consult a paper by Blasius on Arvicola , in the Munch, 
the S f„, ldrac ter, I In , lv °’ as the volume is deficient in the only set in Calcutta, that belonging to the Asiatic Society. 
on 
Pro, 
length ” TOl ’ A ma y note ~ vo ^ umc ' > s deficient in the only set in Calcutta, that belonging to the Asiatic Society, 
in , ,° f which Hod appears quite as important as the presence of an additional ridge on the anterior upper molars. 
0 **t 4«, 
:ha 
ngi 
the 
0l ' ly a Pfeei V ; 8aid to diff e 7m^‘|\ Saz ; ne Natural History for 1849, Ser. 2 , Vol. Ill, p, *203, hut it was not described, and 
11 5 Rev, ( j e tI 7 )0r ^ atlce > a nd the ^ VlC0 ^ a m ctwaotor of iho molars. The genus Neodon appears founded on characters of 
OiereW * ,'^ llUa ls and ,f’ aon s genus Neodon has been established (Jerdon, Mammals, p. 216). The genus was originally 
. .. y *aid to Am - ■“ a Sazill« nf tt, .i. ...... .... o... a tt.i ttt n/,,, , , .. . ... .1. 
Hod 
do 7 uv '“> anQ w ^liaxuuLtJi ox xne moiars. me genus 
°°i'. iv, p. 20 o ■ P e > -N- sikkimemis, is, I think, a true Arvicola. 
L 
