1893.] KEW STAG FROM TIBET. 447 



The following are measurements in inches : — 



Basal length of skull, from anterior border of foramen 



magnum to anterior end of premaxillaries 13-4 



Length from posterior border of occipital condyles 



to ditto 14-3 



Breadth across posterior edges of orbits 6*8 



Breadth across premaxillaries just above canines .... 2*9 



Length of nasal bones 5-85 



Greatest breadth of nasals between lachrymal 



vacuities 3*0 



Breadth of nasals in front at suture between maxil- 

 lary and premaxillary 1*45 



Length of row of upper molars and premolars 4*3 



Length of upper three molars alone 2-6 



On the whole I can see no very close affinity between this and 

 any know^n species of Gervus ; the present species approaches some 

 forms of the Elaphine group quite as much as any other Cervine 

 type, perhaps more. I can see no evidence of Pseudaxine affinity, 

 such as the hortis might perhaps suggest. On the whole the 

 species is probably as near to C. cashmirianus and C. affinis as to 

 any other, though perfectly distinct from both. 



As regards the name of the present species, some little difficulty 

 arises. As already mentioned, it is most probable that the horn 

 to which the name Cervus nariyanus was given by Hodgson (J. A. 

 S. B. XX. 1851, p. 292, pi. viii.) belonged to a younger individual 

 of the same species. This horn was said to have been brought 

 from Ladak, it was 34 inches in length, and had four points, the 

 two lower being more than 4 inches apart, so there was no bez tine. 

 Judging by the figure\ the horn was more massive than would be 

 expected in a young specimen of Thorold's Stag. Mr. Hodgson 

 remarked that " the Bhotiahs who brought this horn say it be- 

 longed to a very young animal, and that the species, which is proper 

 to Gnari or Western Tibet, is larger than the Shou" (C. affinis). 

 The Stag obtained by Dr. Thorold is considerably smaller than 

 the Shou ; there is, so far as is known, no Stag in Western Tibet, 

 C. cashmirianus being limited to the Kashmir valley, at all events 

 on the north and east of its range, and, as is well known, young 

 examples of C. elaphus, and I believe of the Wapiti also, frequently 

 want the bez tine ; so that it is by no means impossible that the 

 Ladak horn may have belonged to a young O. casliminanus from 

 Kashmir, to C. yarlcandensis from Eastern Turkestan, or even to C. 

 eustephanus {C. canadensis, var.) from the Thian Shan, Ladak being 

 connected with all these regions by trade routes. The Bhotiah 

 story was probably pure fiction. 



There is, moreover, one very strong reason for not using the name 



^ The original specimen cannot be found in the British Museum, though 

 Mr. Oldfield Thomas has searched for it. As no mention of it is to be found in 

 the published catalogue of Mr. Hodgson's collections, it was perhaps not included 

 in them. 



