302 
THE MAMMALS OE EGYPT. 
“ Onr beloved Dr. Ilasselquist wasted away daily like a lamp whose oil is spent, and 
departed this life at Smyrna, the 9th February, 1762, to the inexpressible grief of all 
who knew him.” With this explanation of how the book came to be edited by 
Linnaeus, we understand how Hasselquist is made to speak in his ‘ Iter Palaestinum,’ 
p. 94, of his “ Mus (Bgypthis Scc,.^' as Mus jaculus, a term for this Egyptian jerboa which 
he had never applied to it, since it was purely of Linnean origin, as Linnaeus says in 
his preface that he had imagined it needless to add synonyms to the ‘ Iter Palaestinum,' 
as they might easily be found in the 10th edition of his ‘ Systema Naturae,’ in which 
he had introduced them, having described Hasselquist’s specimens in that w ork. 
The paper in Swedish, entitled “ Die aegyptische Bergratte ” lias priority given it by 
Linnaeus over Hasselquist’s first paper in the Dpsala ‘ Acta,’ doubtless because it was 
accompanied by a figure of the species. 
In Hasselquist’s original description the only information recorded regarding the size 
of the animal is “ Magnitude corporis media inter Spec. 6 et 8 Linn. Syst. Nat.” ; but 
in the ‘ Iter Palaestinum ’ it is stated “ Magnitude corporis ut in mure domestico 
majore,” and the following dimensions are given:—“ Mensuratio Cap. poll. 1; Corp. 
poll. 2^; Caud. spith. 1^ ; Post, ped., spith. ^; Ped. anter. infra pollicem; Myst. 
longit. poll. 3.” His second added nothing to his first paper. 
In Low’er Egypt I have met with two distinct species of jerboa, one larger than the 
other. The largest specimen of the smaller species that has passed under my 
observation was an old female with the teeth so worn that all the laminar cusps were 
obliterated, the crowns of the teeth being reduced by use to perfectly rounded surfaces. 
The head of this animal measured nearly 38 mm. in length, the body a very little 
over 63 mm. in length, the ears a little more than 13 mm. long, and the tail nearly 
203 mm. long. This individual, with another of nearly similar dimensions, was captured 
for me alive at the Pyramids by some Bedouins, and I have observed many other 
specimens of this species from the same locality, where it is so common that 1 had 
only to signify my desire to be possessed, say, of twelve living examples, and they 
were brought to me in a couple of days by my Bedouin guide. 
After a very careful consideration of Hasselquist’s two descriptions of his specimens 
obtained at the Pyramids of Gizeh, and his measurements as quoted above, with the 
specimens obtained by me at the same locality, I think there can be no doubt that the 
latter are examples of Mus jaculus, Linn. 
Hasselquist does not appear to have met with the larger Egyptian jerboa, as in his 
account of his visit to Alexandria and Bosetta he makes no mention of it; and I may 
state that during a residence at the Pyramids of Gizeh for a period of four weeks in 
December and three weeks in March and April, during which time I was constantly 
1 The Bedouins at the Pyramids of Gizeh call the small species of Dipus found there the rat of the Gebel, 
i. e. the rat of the desert or mountainous country, in contradistinction to the level valley of the Nile. 
