EURYOTIS IRRORATUS. 
nearly of equal length, the two others much shorter ; the two middle ones of 
the fore-feet equal, the inner one shorter, but slightly longer than the outer- 
most. The hairy covering generally moderately dense, strongly recumbent, 
slightly rigid, and longest on the back and sides of the body. The incisor 
teeth of both jaws, each with a strong longitudinal groove on its anterior sur- 
face, the grooves nearest to the outer edges. For further details relative to 
the teeth and viscera, see the letter-press for PI. XXY. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines, 
Length from the point of the nose to 
the tip of the tail 11 6 
of the tail 3 5 
Distance from the nose to the eye .... 0 9^ 
eye to the ear...... 0 8-j 
Length of the fore-legs 
hind-logs 
tarsus of hind-legs 
Height when standing 
The colours of the female are similar to those of the male. 
Inches. Lines. 
1 n 
2 5 
1 n 
2 8 
This is the species which the collector, who commences his labours near Cape Town, will 
first acquire. It ranges more to the southward than either of the others, and is even found in 
marshy spots close to Cape Point. In such situations it is usually seen near the roots of 
bushes or clumps of rushes, and to the densest parts of these it flies for concealment when its 
fears are excited. On the other hand, if hunted or more than usually alarmed, it seeks safety 
by entering the subterranean burrows with which it is always provided, and which exist beneath 
the vegetation in which it generally secretes itself. These burrows are commonly short and 
tortuous, and in them the female generally forms her nest and produces her young. 
The roots of rushes and other vegetable products appear to constitute the principal food of 
this animal, at least such may be inferred from the character of the substances with which the 
stomachs of those were filled which I examined. In some, however, something like portions 
of insects were also discovered. 
The colour of this species is much darker than that of the other two species which inhabit 
South Africa, and by that, peculiarity it may be readily recognised. In addition to that diag- 
nostic character, others, more important and less liable to vary, are furnished by the cranium 
and teeth, as will be seen, in detail, by reference to Plate XXV. and its letter-press. The 
existence in this species of a longitudinal groove in each of the incisor teeth of the lower jaw 
serves to distinguish it from E. unisulcatus, Cuvier, in which they are plain, and the breadth 
and depth of the grooves, besides their being more remote from the outer edges of the teeth, 
indicate a specific difference between E. irroratus and E. Brantsii. In the former the grooves 
are very delicate, particularly in the lower incisors, and close to the external edges of the teeth ; 
in the latter they are strongly developed in all, but more especially in those of the lower jaw. 
