324 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIl. 



Gapt. P. A. Buxton has kindly allowed me to make use of his collection 

 which was sent direct to the British Museum for inclusion in this paper. 



The Indian Museum sent a few specimens to the British Museum for 

 identification. These have also been added. 



A list of the officers who collected and sent specimens to the Bombay- 

 Natural History Society is given below. 



Care has been taken to avoid errors, but in the event of omissions or 

 mistakes in the spelling of names it is hoped that they will be excused, as 

 the writing on labels is often difficult to read and is sometimes obliterated. 



Major E. Arthur. Capt. F. Ludlow. 



Major R. Bagnall. Capt. H. L.Mackenzie, i.m.s. 



Lieut.-Col. F. M. Bailey, c.i.b. Brig.-Gen.H. J. A. Mackey, c.m.g., 



Major R. E. Cheesman. m.v.c, d.s.o. 



Major C. Christy. Lieut.-Col. H. A. F. Magrath. 



F. Collins, Esq. H. J. May, Esq. 



Lt.-Col. F. P. Connor, D.s.o., I.M.S. Capt. Napier, i.m.s. 



Maj-Gen. SirP.Z. Cox, g.c.i.e.,k.c.s.i. Patiala Lancers. A squadron. 



J. M. S. Culbertson, Esq. Capt. C. R. S. Pitman, d.s.o,, m.c. 



Deputy Civil Commissioner. The late Major G. A. Perreau. 



Lt.-Col. Evans. Major G. B. Scott. 



Major F. C. Fraser, i.m.s. Capt. G. C. Shortridge. 



Capt. Graham, r.a.m.c. The late Capt. W. H. Shakespeare. 



Capt. R. W. G. Kingston, i.m.s. Capt. W. H. O. Short. 



Capt. C. M. Ingoldby, k.a.m.c. Lt.-Col. F. Wall, c.m.g., i.m.s. 



J. Jenkins, Esq. Lt. D. Webster, b,.n. 



Kilminater, Esq. H. Whitehead, Esq. 



Capt. T. R. Livesey. Lt.-Col. Sir A. T. Wilson, c.s.i., 



C.M.G., C.I.E., D.S.O. 



Although many men are now conversant with the topography of the area 

 covered by this paper, a short sketch will not be out of place, for those who 

 are not. Mesopotamia, for which the Turkish name of Iraq is preferable , 

 is a large fiat alluvial plain of comparatively recent origin. It is 450 miles 

 in length and about 150 miles in breadth. The foothills of the Kurdistan 

 and Persian Mountains form a Northern and North-Eastern boundary, while 

 to the South and West lies the margin of the Arabian and Syrian desert. 



The land of the lower reaches of the Karun River, although in Persia 

 has been included in this paper, as f antistically it is in the great Mesopota- 

 mian plain. 



Through the plain the three main rivers— Tigris, Euphrates and Karun — 

 wind a serpentine course towards the sea at Fao on the Persian Gulf. The 

 Tigris and Euphrates unite at Kurna and also at Gurmat Ali to form the 

 Shatt-al-Arab, a river of considerable width. This is in turn joined by the 

 Karun at Mohommerah. All three rivers bring down a large amount of 

 silt, and it is of this the Mesopotamian soil is composed, without any 

 admixture of stones or gravel. The Karun enters the Iraq plain at Ahwaz 

 where it crosses a low spur of the Jebel Hamrin range of hills, in a series 

 of rock-strewn rapids. The Tigris crosses the same range several hundred 

 miles to the North- West through the beautiful Fatah Gorge. It however 

 does not finally leave the land of rocks behind until Samarra is passed, 

 where there are cHffs of conglomerate. This region of undulating hills and 

 rocky ranges extends from Samarra north-wesi to Mosul as well as along 

 the North and North-East boundary previously mentioned. So far very 

 little collecting has been undertaken there. It is the home of the porcupine 

 and the gazelle grazes on the higher plateau. The latter is also well 



