39° 



NATURE 



[Feb. 26, 1880 



kept. In such a diary first impressions are very often 

 recorded, and subsequent observations do not always show 

 how far the first notes require modification. To the 

 writer this is a simple matter; his notes are memoranda 

 serving to recall details to his mind ; but to another who 

 does not possess the clue it is often very difficult to ascer- 

 tain how far the notes in the diary agree with the final 

 conclusions of the diarist." The sections illustrative of the 

 geology of the country are from Dr. Stoliczka's note-book. 



The account of the mammals, also from Mr. Blanford's 

 pen, wc are warned must only be considered as a contri- 

 bution towards the zoology of the countries traversed. It 

 is at present simply impossible to give anything like a com- 

 plete list of the mammalia inhabiting Eastern Turkestan, 

 the Pamir, and Wakhan. Even of Ladak, which is not 

 only easy of access but is yearly frequented by English 

 travellers and sportsmen, although the larger animals may- 

 be known, much more information will be necessary 

 before a complete enumeration can be made. In this 

 valuable contribution towards such a fauna Mr. Blanford 

 describes, among the animals collected at Ladak, a 

 lagomys, a mouse, a vole, and a shrew, which were 

 previously unknown. The districts traversed by the 

 second mission la)-, with the exception of Kashmir, where 

 a mixture of Indian (Oriental) forms is found, within the 

 limits of the Pakearctic region ; but they belong to 

 different sub-provinces, distinguished chiefly by their 

 physical characters, and especially by their elevation. 

 Western Tibet or Ladak, in which may be included all 

 the area north of Kashmir drained by the Indus and its 

 tributaries, is a part of the high barren Tibetan plateau 

 and the fauna comprises typically Alpine forms such as 

 wild sheep and ibex, marmots and lagomys. The fauna 

 inhabiting the ranges commonly known as the Kuenlun, 

 intervening between the northern water-shed of the Indus 

 and the low plains of Turkestan, is very similar to that of 

 Tibet proper, but several species appear different. The 

 animals of the plains of Eastern Turkestan around 

 Yarkand and Kdshghar belong to very distinct types, and 

 appertain to the desert fauna of Central Asia, charac- 

 terised especially by the abundance of rodents such as 

 Gerbillus, Cricetus and Dipus. The few specimens of the 

 mammals inhabiting the Thian Shan range, Pamir, and 

 Wakhan, contained in Dr. Stoliczka's collection, are insuf- 

 ficient to give much idea of the fauna, as they were col- 

 lected under great difficulties, during journeys when the 

 ground was for the most part covered with thick snow. In 

 drawing up this account Mr. Blanford has had the assist- 

 ance of Dr. Dobson for the bats. It is illustrated by 

 fifteen plates, several of which are coloured, in which all 

 the new species are figured, with many osteological 

 details. 



The collection of reptiles made was small, partly owing 

 to the country traversed not being rich in such forms of 

 animal life, but still more perhaps because of the 

 unfavourable season at which many of the excursions 

 were made. The Thian Shan was visited in the depth of 

 winter and the Pamir steppes and Wakhan long before 

 the snow had melted, and under these circumstances no 

 snakes, lizards, or other forms of reptilian life could be 

 found. The bulk of the collection consisted of specimens 

 procured on the journey from India to Kdshghar in the 

 Panjab hills beyond Mari, in Kashmir and in Ladak and 



those obtained on the return journey between Ydrkand 

 an the Kardkoram. Of the lizards several new species 

 are described and figured ; of the amphibia only four 

 species in all were collected. This memoir is by Mr. 

 Blanford. 



The account of the fishes obtained during the expedition 

 is by Mr. Day. Twenty-five species are enumerated, 

 several of which are described as new. After examining 

 in detail the fishes of Yarkand and those of the adjoining 

 countries, Mr. Day concludes, amongst other things, that 

 there is to be found a peculiar group of carps (Schizo- 

 thoracinas) which has spread almost due east and west 

 from the cold and elevated regions of Eastern Turkestan, 

 but of which the southern progress has been barred by 

 the Himalayas. If we look to the south we see, as it 

 were, that a wave of tropical forms of fishes has at a 

 prehistoric period expanded over that portion of the 

 globe where the Nicobars, Andamans, and the most 

 southern portions of the continent of Asia and the islands 

 of the Malay Archipelago now are, that this fish fauna 

 has its northward progress arrested by some cause at or 

 near where the Himalayas now exist, and mark the 

 division between the fish fauna of India and that of 

 Turkestan. 



The collection of Hymenoptera is described by the late 

 Frederick Smith, of the British Museum. It contained 

 sixty-three species, only nine of which appear to have 

 been previously described ; five new species are enume- 

 rated of that most cosmopolitan genus, Megachile ; four 

 new species of Bombus, and four of Formica. Vespa 

 germanica was found at Sanju and in its neighbourho od 

 also in Eastern Turkestan ; eleven of the new species 

 are beautifully figured from drawings by E. A. Smith. 



The Neuroptera described by Mr. McLachlan were only 

 fifteen in number : "four were species of Odonata (dragon- 

 flies), one of Ephemeridae, three of Perlidae, one of 

 Myrmeleonidae, three of Chrysopidae, and three of Tri- 

 choptera. The general aspect is European. All the 

 dragon-flies are European, and two of them occur in 

 Britain. The ant-lion (Myrmecalurus punctulatus) is a 

 species of Eastern Europe." The three species of 

 Trichoptera were new. 



The Mollusca are described by Geoffrey Nevill. As 

 was to be expected, " the fauna of Ydrkand proves to be 

 exceedingly poor in mollusca, and these are entirely 

 European in their affinities. The fresh-water shells are 

 indeed either identical with, or most closely allied to, 

 well-known European forms." "The only striking novelty 

 is the new Succinea martensiana, its thickness and opaque- 

 ness of texture, and its vivid orange-coloured aperture, 

 make it one of the most interesting and peculiar forms 

 of the genus." The characteristic Indo-Malayan genus, 

 Nanina, disappears on the confines of Kashmir, but 

 reappears in the Sarafshan Valley. About thirty species, 

 several new, are described from Eastern Turkestan 

 and Ladak, and twenty-five from Kashmir and the 

 neighbourhood of Mari. The new species are all 

 figured. 



The last memoir on our list is a very interesting ac- 

 count of the Kdrdkoram stones by Prof. Martin Duncan ; 

 these are described as fossil rhizopods belonging to a new 

 order called Syringosphaerida, and containing but one 

 family with two genera and six species. The second 



