RUSA ARISTOTELIS. 257 



Length 6 to 7 feet ; height 13 to 14 hands at the shoulder; tail 12 

 to 1 3 inches ; ears 7 to 8. Some are stated to be larger than this even. 



It has been for long a disputed point whether the Himalayan Jerrow 

 was distinct from the Samber of Central India or not. Horsfield, in his 

 Catalogue of Mammalia, gives three species, R. equina, from Southern 

 India ; R. Hippelaphus and R. Aristotelis, from the Himalayas. Hodgson 

 makes three races from the hills alone j viz., C. hippelaphus, the samber, or 

 Phursa jarai, i. e. the hoary jerrow ; C. Aristotelis, the Rato jarai, or red 

 jerrow ; and 0. heterocercus, the Kalo jarai. The former is said to have a 

 dark hide copiously sprinkled with hoary ; the basal antler recurved 

 towards the beam, and the posterior process of the bifurcation much 

 longer than the anterior one. C. Aristotelis is said to have the frontal 

 branch elongate, the rump very rufous, and the posterior terminal snag 

 very small and approximate to the other. The animal is also said to be 

 smaller. C. heterocercus is stated to have the upper part of the beam 

 simple ; the body-colour very dark, almost black ; and to be much smaller 

 than the two last. Gray, in his Catalogue of Mammalia of the British 

 Museum, gives R. Aristotelis, Hippelaphus, and equinus. R. equinus, by 

 some restricted to Southern India, by others looked on as the Rusa of 

 the Malayan countries, is said to differ from Hippelaphus in having the 

 basal antler directed forwards, and in the upper branch of the summit 

 being small and directed backwards ; and C. Leschenaultii, stated to be 

 from Southern India, is described as being not so dark as the Rusa of 

 Bengal, with the horns angulated and more rugose, and the caudal disk 

 more developed. Colonel Sykes too, in his Catalogue, speaking of the 

 race of Western India, says, " not so large nor so dark as C. niger of 

 Bengal." 



Blyth was at one time inclined to consider that the Himalayan Jerrow, 

 C. Aristotelis, differed from C. Hippelaphus of Central and Southern India, 

 stating that the Jerrow was larger, of a darker colour, and with the hair on 

 the head and neck more lengthened. The horns too were considered to be 

 generally larger and more diverging than those of Southern India, and the 

 forehead to be broader. Latterly, however, and in his Catalogue, he looked 

 upon them as all belonging to one species ; and after seeing these deer in 

 the Himalayas, in Central India, and in Southern India, I quite agree with 

 this decision. The chief distinctions relied on in naming these races are 

 a difference of size of the animals, and of their horns, the comparative 

 size of the basal and terminal snags, different shades of colour, with the 



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