36 Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol. VIII, 19 12.] 



includes many species of Batrachia of a very wide distribution, 

 and it is no exception to this rule to find that such forms are 

 scarce in the Abor foot-hills ; the large number of endemic species 

 is a correlated fact. It is well known to be the case that the rep- 

 tiles and Batrachia of the E. Himalayas, Assam and Burma have a 

 strong affinity, and it seems probable that a rich Malayan element 

 has made its way northwards and westwards into the damp ever- 

 green jungles of these countries, gradually becoming more and more 

 attenuated as the climate grows drier and less equable towards the 

 west. 



All the evidence at present available, therefore, supports the 

 view that the fauna of the extreme eastern part of the Himalayan 

 foot-hills is not, at any rate so far as the frogs and toads are con- 

 cerned Himalayan in the sense in which the term has hitherto 

 been understood, but allied rather to the fauna of Assam south of 

 the Brahmaputra or even to that of Burma. In other words, 

 Blanford's " Eastern Himalayan Tract" does not extend, so far 

 as the Batrachia are concerned, nearly so far to the east as he 

 believed, while his " Assam Tract" extends northwards to include 

 the foot-hills north of the Brahm.aputra as well as its upper valley 

 and the mountains b'ing south of it. It is probable also that no 

 very clear line of division exists between his ' ' Assam Tract ' ' and 

 his " Upper Burma Tract." 



In conclusion I must thank Mr. Kemp for the very careful 

 way in which his .collection was preserved and labelled, and also 

 those who helped him, especially Capt. the Hon. M. de Courcy, for 

 the interesting specimens they contributed. 



