^"^^c"' THE MAMMALS OF INDIA. 6i 



1892. 



242 ; but then we must recollect that Jerdon's area was a much more 

 limited one, excluding Ceylon and the regions north of tlie main axis 

 of the Himalaya, as well as tliose to the westward of the Indus, and 

 eastward of the Bay of Bengal. In Mr. Sterndale's volume on the 

 same subject, issued in 1884, the number was, indeed, raised to 

 upwards of 482 ; but some of the species there recorded do not occur 

 within the limits of British India, while fuller observations have 

 shown that others are not entitled to rank as distinct. The greatest 

 additions to the number of valid species living within the strictly 

 British Indian area since Jerdon's time occur, as might have been 

 expected, among the so-called Micro-Mammalia, viz. : Bats, Insecti- 

 vores, and Rodents ; while, as might likewise have been predicated, 

 the group of which our knowledge is least satisfactory is that of the 

 Cetaceans. As regards the main scheme of mammalian classification, 

 Mr. Blanford practically follows the one adopted by Professor 

 Flower in his later works. We shall find, however, as we proceed, 

 that some important changes have been made in the limits of genera 

 upon those which have been adopted by several recent writers ; while 

 there are certain not less noteworthy emendations in the specific 

 names applied to some of even the most well-known Indian mammals. 



Not the least important feature of Mr. Blanford's work is the 

 happy blending of strict technical description and detail with 

 readable and interesting notices of the habits and mode of life of 

 the various animals described. This ought to make the book as 

 acceptable to the amateur lover of natural history and the sports- 

 man as it must be indispensable to the professed zoologist. Since, 

 moreover, the author has paid great attention to the dimensions and 

 weights of the larger Indian mammals, we trust that, for the future, we 

 shall hear no more of 13 ft. tigers, and other similar monsters, which 

 frequently repel the scientific zoologist from studying sporting works 

 with the attention that, in other respects, they may merit. 



Another feature to which we are fain to draw special attention in 

 the work before us is the excellence of the illustrations. With the 

 exception of a certain number reproduced from other works, these 

 have been executed by one of the numerous photographic processes 

 now coming so largely into use; and their fidelity to details proclaims 

 the superiority of this mode of illustration over the ordinary woodcut. 

 Among the figures of the larger mammals which strike us as worthy 

 of special commendation we may refer to those of the two species of 

 Rhinoceros, to that of the Bharal, and to those of the horns and 

 heads of the Markhor. Four of these, by the courtesy of the author, 

 we are enabled to reproduce. 



As the larger terrestrial animals are those which are likely to be 

 the most interesting to the majority of our readers, it is to these that 

 we shall mainly confine our rernarks. Under the title of Elephas 

 maximns, we fear that our, old friend Elephas indicus — the Indian 

 elephant — will scarcely be recognised ; and we cannot help regretting 



