178 Messrs. O. Thomas and M. A. C. Hinton on the 
XVIL—The Mammals of the 1921 Mount Everest Expedition. 
By Ouprietp Tuomas, F.R.S., and Marrin A. C. 
HINTON. 
(Published by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 
‘Tne 1921 Expedition to Mount Everest, under the auspices 
of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club, was 
intended to make a reconnaissance of the mountain, and try 
to find a route by which, another year, an attempt might be 
made to ascend the summit. Mr. A. F. R. Wollaston was 
appointed naturalist to the Expedition, but, as his duties 
included both the medical care of the climbers and the collec- 
tion of all classes of zoological and botanical objects, he was 
naturally not able to devote any very large portion of his 
time to mammals. Those that he was able to get, however, 
have been of very great interest to us, and are the first series 
of mammals that have ever been received by the Museum 
from any such heights as 16,000'-17,000’. 
In all they number fifty-two specimens, belonging to ten 
species, of which we have described two species and one 
subspecies as new. In addition, six other species were seen 
at high altitudes by Mr. Wollaston, but it was not possible to 
obtain specimens. Mr. Wollaston’s notes upon these forms 
are incorporated below. 
Of the novelties, the most striking is the new Pika, which 
we have named after Mr. Wollaston, and which he found up 
to so great a height as 20,000’. It is distinguished by not 
acquiring a fulvous mantle in the late summer, as is done by 
its nearest ally Ochotona roylei, the best-known Pika of the 
Himalayas. 
When further expeditions go for the conquest of Mount 
Everest, we would urge whoever is interested in natural 
history to pay especial regard to the following points con- 
nected with the mammals of that mighty mountain, so as to 
supplement Mr. Wollaston’s observations. 
Pikas.—How soon are any Pikas met’ with on the ascent, 
and what is the highest point to which they attain? 
Specimens of Pikas from all altitudes should be secured, with 
the view of finding out if intermediate forms between royle 
and wollastont occur at intermediate elevations. And sets 
should be obtained at dates as widely separated as possible, 
so as to show the very peculiar seasonal changes of pelage 
to which these animals are liable, and on which their syste- 
matic classification largely depends. 
