INTRODUCTION. 



♦ 



Dr. Anderson, the late Superintendent, who was tlie 

 author of the first part of the Catalogue of the Mammalia, 

 w'lich was published in 188:, was never able to complete 

 the work ; the second half is therefore issued after a con- 

 siderable number of years' delay. 



It has been thought desirable to alter the form of the 

 Catalogue somewhat from that of the first part, in which 

 very nearly each specimen was separately described, some- 

 times at greater, sometimes at lesser, length. This course 

 seemed to unduly swell the bulk of the work ; it was there- 

 fore decided to approximate the form of the Catalogue 

 somewhat more to those of the British Museum without 

 full descriptions of each species, but with such remarks as 

 might be thought necessary to assist the identification of 

 the purely Indian species. A key of Genera and Species 

 has been added, and all the Indian species, whether the 

 Museum contains examples of them or not, are included in 

 the Catalogue. 



The synonymy has not been worked out quitp complete- 

 ly, but all the more important references, especially those 

 found in Indian works, are given, and every reference, 

 except those asterisked, has been carefully verified. 



The total number of species included in the Catalogue 

 amounts to 590, of which 276 are found within the Indian 

 Empire and 314 are exotic. These 590 species are repre- 

 sented by 4.872 specimens, of which 1,330 belonged to 

 the old Asiatic Society's collection and are to be found 

 mentioned in Mr. Blyth's Catalogue, published in 1863, and 

 the remaining 3,542 specimens have been added since 

 that time. 



Following the introduction will be found a separate 

 list of the type specimens possessed by the Museum, which 

 number 55, and also a list of Donors and Contributors, both 

 before and since the year 1863. 



