292 Dr. Horsfield on the Helarctos Eurt/spiluSy 



the East India Company by Sir Stamford Raffles. Whatever was 

 then communicated was derived from these materials, and from 

 the catalogues which accompanied them. I could not at that time 

 anticipate that an opportunity would soon be afforded of examin- 

 ing in a living state, an animal belonging to the same subdivision 

 of the genus Ursusy (to which I have applied the name of Hel- 

 arctos from %\yi calor Solaris and, oi^y.ros ursus^) brought from the 

 Island of Borneo, which is so nearly allied to the Malayan Bear, 

 that its true specific distinction may in the opinion of many per- 

 sons require further confirmation. But as the opportunity oc- 

 curred it became incumbent on me, not only to review my former 

 description and to compare it with the living animal, but, if 

 possible, to communicate to the public, the result of my later 

 observations. 



Regarding the history of the Malayan Bear, I have to observe, 

 that as far as I have been able to discover, this animal is not 

 mentioned by any systematic writer previous to the publication of 

 the 13th Volume of the Tranactions of the Linnean Society in 

 1821 ; and Mr. Marsden doubtless deserves the credit of having 

 first described it as a native of Sumatra, and of having commu- 

 nicated some information concerning its manners. The knowledge 

 of the existence of a species of Bear in Borneo, has long been 

 familiar to naturalists who have visited the Eastern Archipelago; 

 but the indications of it which are supposed to be contained in 

 Some of the Oriental voyages and travels have hitherto escaped 

 my research. The Malayan Bear is mentioned by M. Cuvier in 

 the enumeration of living Bears contained in the 4th Volume 

 of his " Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles," where the name 

 of Ursus Malayanus receives his sanction, and M. Frederic 

 Cuvier, in the 41st Number of the " Histoire Naturelle des Mam- 

 miferes," which contains a figure of (»ur animal, has likewise 

 adopted this name. In the year 1819, a specimen of the Malayan 

 Bear, obtained at Bencoolen, was brought to England in the Ship 

 William Pitt, and presented to Lady Banks. This, I have been 

 informed, was examined and described by Dr. Leach, but we have 

 to regret that the result of his researches on this subject, has been 

 lost to the scientific world. The prepared specimen is now de- 



