PANTHOLODPS. 469 
im Kinloch’s * Large Game of Thibet.’ Another approach to the saiga 
is in the position of the horns, which, though of the same class, are 
much longer and more attenuated, but the position over the eye and 
the osseous development of the orbit are the same. ‘The nasal bones 
are also shorter in proportion to other antelopes. The super-orbital 
foramina just under the horns, which are marked in most antelope and 
deer, are very minute in Pantholops. Dr. Murie notices the inflation of 
the post-maxilla in the saiga, and states that a similar extension is to be 
found in the chzrvw. 
No. 460. PANTHOLOPS HODGSONII. 
The Chiru. 
Native Names.—Chiru in Nepal; Zsos in Thibet (Strachey) ; also 
Lsors or Choos (Kinloch). 
Hasitat.—The open plains of Thibet from Lhassa to Ladakh. 
DescripTion.—The following description was written in 1830, 
apparently by Mr. Brian Hodgson himself, and was published in 
‘Gleanings in Science’ (vol. i, p. 348), probably the first scientific 
’ magazine in India. As I have seen no better account of this curious 
antelope I give it as it stands. Mr. Hodgson had the advantage of 
drawing from life, he having had a living specimen as a pet :— 
« Antelope with very long, compressed, tapering, sub-erect (? sub- 
lyrated) horns, having a slight concave arctuation forwards, and blunt 
annulations (prominently ridged on the frontal surface), except near the 
tips ; a double coat throughout, greyish blue internally, but superficially 
fawn-coloured above, and white below, a black forehead, and stripes 
down the legs ; and a tumour or tuft above either nostril. 
“The ears and tail are moderate and devoid of any peculiarity ; so 
likewise are the sub-orbital sinuses.* The horns are exceedingly long, 
measuring in some individuals nearly 24 feet. They are placed very 
forward on the head, and may popularly be said to be erect and straight, 
though a reference to the specific character will show that they are not 
strictly one or the other. 
“The general surface of the horns is smooth and polished, but its 
uniformity is broken by a series of from fifteen to twenty rings extending 
from the base to within six inches of the tip of each horn. Upon the 
lateral and dorsal surfaces of the horns these rings are little elevated, 
and present a wavy rather than a ridgy appearance ; but on the frontal 
surface the rings exhibit a succession of heavy, large ridges, with furrows 
between ; the annulation is nowhere acutely edged. The horns have a 
very considerable lateral compression towards the base, where their 
extent fore and aft is nearly double of that from side to side; upwards 
a 
* These are wanting.—R. A. S. 
