80 



July 22, 1834. 

 William Yarrell, Esq., in the Cliair. 



A letter was read, addressed to Mr. Vigors by B. H. Hodgson, 

 Esq., Corr. Memb. Z.S., and dated Nepal Residency, February 14, 

 1834. It referred to various living animals which it is the intention 

 of the writer to forward to Calcutta for transmission to England 

 during the ensuing season. It also referred to a collection of skins 

 of Mammalia and Birds which have already been dispatched by 

 Mr. Hodgson for the Society. Among them are skins of the Chiru 

 Antelope, Antilope Hodgsonii, Abel, male and female ; and the writer 

 refers to these as elucidating the points which had been unascer- 

 tained by him at the time of making to the Society his several pre- 

 vious communications, abstracts of which have been published in 

 the Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence, 

 Part i. p. 52, and Part ii. p. 14 ; and in the Proceedings of the So- 

 ciety, Part i. p. 110. 



The communications referred to " left only the inguinal pores, the 

 number of teats in the female, and the fact of her being cornute or 

 otherwise, doubtful : those points are now cleared up. The female 

 is hornless, and has two teats only : she has no marks on the face 

 or limbs, and is rather smaller than the male. The male has a large 

 pouch at each groin, as in Ant. Dorcas : that of the female is con- 

 siderably smaller. These escaped me," Mr. Hodgson says, " till I 

 got this season's specimens, remarkable as the pouches are. But 

 the fact is that they are composed of very thin brittle skin, and, as 

 they hang loose by a narrow neck, they are apt to be torn oft" by the 

 Bhoteahs while preparing the specimens." 



Mr. Hodgson again describes in detail the maxillary tumours or 

 accessory nostrils of the Chiru Antelope. He regards as analogous 

 to these accessory nostrils, and as essentially the same with them 

 in use, the intermaxillary pouches noticed by Col. Hamilton Smith 

 as partially characteristic of his Cephalophine and Namorrlmdine 

 subgenera of Antilope. 



Referring to Col. Hamilton Smith's distribution of the genus An- 

 tilope, Mr. Hodgson remarks that " the Chiru Antelope can only be- 

 long either to the Gazelline or the Antilopine group. Hornless 

 females would place it among the latter ; but lyrate horns, ovine 

 nose, and want of sinus, would give it rather to Gazella, and its sin- 

 gular inguinal purses further ally it to Ant. Dorcas of this group. 

 But from Gazella it is distinguished by the accessory nostrils or in- 

 termaxillary pouch, the hornless females, the absence of tufts on the 

 knees, and of bands on the flanks. The Chiru with his bluff" bristly 



