476 On Two new Cats from China. 



I have not been able to examine the skull, which is in 

 the skin. 



Dimensions from stuffed specimen : — Head and body 4 feet; 

 tail 2 feet 4 inches. 



Hah. Amur Bay, E. Siberia. 



Type._ B.M. 95. 10. 19. 1. Presented by the Hon. W. 

 Eothschild. 



I should hesitate to describe this species of leopard without 

 access to the skull, were I not convinced that the type 

 (a skull only) of Gray^s Leopardus chinensi's belongs to a 

 species distinct from Felis Fontanieri of ilr. Milne-Edwards, 

 and probably to an animal of the present species. 



It appears to be a much thicker-set animal, though this 

 may be due to the manner in which it is stuffed, while its 

 longer hair and very pale coloration enable it to be at once 

 distinguished from F. tontanieri. 



The skull of Gray's L. chinensis is totally different in its 

 general shape and build from that of F. Fontanieri, One 

 cannot say whether it belongs to the species I have just de- 

 scribed or not, but it is unlikely that there should be three 

 species of leopard in N. China; and if Gray's name of 

 L. cTiinensis was not preoccupied by the same author's 

 F. cliinensis, I should not have ventured to give a new name 

 to the Amur Bay skin. 



The differences between the skulls of L. chinensis and 

 F. Fontanieri may be best understood by a comparison of 

 the figures, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 261, and Rech. Mamm. pi. xxsi., 

 noting especially the upper line of the cranium, which in 

 chinensis runs in a regular and unbroken curve, whilst in 

 Fontanieri it tends to reach an apes at the supraorbital ridges, 

 falling off in both directions from that point. The orbit in 

 Gray's chinensis is much more inclined to the vertical and 

 does not lie back as it does in Fontanieri. The vertical 

 distance from the lowest point of the auditory bullae to the top 

 of the skull is considerably greater in Fontanieri. There are 

 also many other minor differences : the bullae in the last- 

 named species are more rounded and swollen, and the muzzle 

 is also longer and narrower. The teeth are the same size. 

 The skull of F. Fontanieri which I have chiefly used for 

 comparison in the above description is of nearly the same age 

 as Gray's type, possibly rather younger, but nevertheless 

 quite adult : some skulls of Fontanieri, however, reach a 

 much larger size, equalling those of the Indian leopard; the 

 differences in shape between them and L. chinensis are, 

 however, the same as in the particular case described above. 



