58 MR. O. THOMAS ON THE MAMMALS OF (Jan. 19, 
1, HERPESTES AUROPUNCTATUS BIRMANICUS ’, var. nov.” 
a. Boori bazar, 11/3/81. 
This specimen belongs to a race which for some time both Mr. 
Blanford and I have thought to be new, and of which the Museum 
possesses two other specimens, one from “Burma” (probably Tonghu) 
. presented by Mr. R. G. Wardlaw-Ramsay and exhibited to this 
Society as H. awropunctatus by Mr. Alston in 1879°; and the other 
from Pegu (10/4/81) presented and collected by Mr. Eugene Oates. 
Mr. Blanford has also in his own collection a specimen of it from 
Cachar. 
These four specimens are all nearly precisely alike and differ from 
ordinary Nepalese H. auropunctatus by their larger size, heavier 
build and slightly darker coloration, their superiority in size being 
especially well marked in their skulls and dentition. 
The following are the comparative measurements of Mr. Oates’s 
Pegu specimen, which I will consider as the type of the variety, and 
of the type of H. auropunctatus from Nepal, a fully adult male :— 
Head Hind 
and body. Tail, foot. 
mm, mm, mm. 
H. auropunctatus, type*,d.. 320 212 48 
Var. birmanicus, d......-- 392 214 55° 
Incisors Basi- 
Skulls :— Palate- Palate- to eranial 
Length. Breadth. length. breadth. cross-line. axis®. 
HT. auropunctatus, 59-0)! 9130:0. -33°O. 1995 ~23:0 «29°80 
Var. birmanicus, 62: 7ere 34:0. 553430 121586 23:0% ase 
F ; Greatest breadth 
Teeth.—Greatest diameter of of pm‘ at right 
angles to greatest 
pm* m! m? diameter. 
H. auropunctatus, ...... 70 59 3:0 3°2 
Var. birmanicus, ........ 8:0 6°4 Bhi 3°6 
It is possible that this variety will hereafter have to be raised to 
1 The question as to whether this should be “ dirmanicus” or “ burmanus”’ 
has given rise to much doubt. Roma makes romanus and therefore Burma 
should make burmanus, especially as Burma is undoubtedly the correct, and the 
French Birmanie an incorrect and corrupt form of the name. Unfortunately, 
however, not only have the French corrupted the word into Birmanie, but the 
Italians, to whom we must look as the representatives of the ancient Romans, 
have also made the same change, calling it “ Birmania,” whence “ dirmanicus,” 
which I think we must accept as the nearest to the proper Latin for Burmese. 
2 Preliminary diagnosis in Ann. Mag. N. H. (5) xvii. p. 4, Jan. 1886. 
3 P. Z.8. 1879, p. 665. 
+ Measurements taken as explained, P. Z. 8. 1882, p. 65, except that in 
deference to what is now becoming the common practice, I take the ‘length of 
skull” from the front of the premaxille to the basion, instead of to the back of 
the condyles. 
5 In the Manipur specimen 58 mm. 
6 Combined lengths of basioccipital and basisphenoid, not including pre- 
phenoid as accidentally stated before. 
