8/4 DR. J. E. GRAY ON THE FELIDjE. [NoV. 14, 



Charaxes calydonia, Butler, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 638. 



Hnb. Malacca {Colls. Wallace, Roberts, and Hewitsori). 



The specimen of this butterfly lent to me by Mr. Roberts differs 

 from that figured by Mr. Hewitson in its greater size, and in having 

 the upperside of the hind wing more suffused with greenish : on the 

 underside the markings are sHghtly different, the basal red bands 

 being broader, the central band whiter, tlie discal red band nar- 

 rower, darker, and rather more irregular, the submarginal green 

 band duller, and the blue lunulate line more irregular and not so 

 deeply margined with black ; the large black caudal spot is, of course, 

 wanting in the original fia;ure. 



8. Additional Observations on the Species of Cats {Felidte) 

 in the British Museum. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.B.S., 

 V.P.Z.S., F.L.S., &c. 



The following memoranda were accidentally omitted from my 

 former paper on the Cats in the British Museum (see P. Z. S. 1867, 

 p. 258). 



To the species of the restricted genus Felis mentioned in the 

 former paper I may add the Manul (Felis maiiul of Pallas). This 

 was regarded as a new species by Mr. Hodgson under the name of 

 Felis nigropectus, and is beautifully illustrated in the drawing of his 

 Nepalese animal in the British Museum. In the British Museum also 

 is a fine specimen of this Cat, presented by Mr. Hodgson, under the 

 latter name. It has many characters in common with the other wild 

 species of the restricted genus Felis ; but it is at once known by its 

 very long, soft hair, the pale whitish colour only varied by a slight 

 black wash on the upper part of the legs and the black on the chest. 

 Fischer, who only worked from books, considers it a variety of Felis 

 domestica ; but it is a very distinct and well-marked species. 



The Wild Cat of Europe {Felis catits) is distinct from the African 

 and Asiatic species of the restricted genus Felis in the British Mu- 

 seum. It is at once known by its thick cylindrical truncated tail ; 

 but it is so well known, and has been so often described, that I need 

 not add any further observations respecting it. It is said that it 

 breeds with the domestic Cat, and that the skull of the hybrid, as 

 well as the coloration of the fur, is more or less modified by the in- 

 terbreeding. 



Having confidence in the declaration of M. F. Cuvier, that the 

 skins he had received from Malabar were exactly like those of the 

 animal named by M. Geoffroy in the Museum Catalogue F. chaus 

 which came from Egypt, and with those that M. F. Cuvier figured and 

 described under the same name that were received from North Africa, 

 and also in Mr. Edward Blyth's observation (see P. Z. S. 1863, 

 p. 181), that "the Egyptian specimen (of F. chatis) now living in 

 the Society's Gardens is absolutely similar to the common animal of 

 Bengal," 1 was misled and adopted their conclusion. 



