448 MB. w. T. BLANFORD ON A [May 2, 



C. nariyanus for the present animal even if, as is highly probable, 

 it was the species that furnished the horn described and figured 

 by Hodgson. The name was taken from Nari, the Western (or 

 rather perhaps the South-western) province of Tibet, often called 

 Gnari or Nari-Khorsum, a tract, as represented on maps, of no 

 great breadth from north to south, but extending along the north 

 of the Himalayas from the western extremity of Tibet proper near 

 Eudok to between long. 80° and 85° E. This region, part of which 

 is known as Hundes, is on the frontier of our own territory, and has 

 been visited at several points by British sportsmen. If any Stag 

 inhabited the region, it is incredible that nothing should have been 

 heard of it ; moreover, the whole of the upper valleys of the Sutlej 

 a.nd Tarotsanpo or Brahmaputra, of which the area consists, is a 

 barren, treeless, almost bushless waste, differing essentially from 

 the country inhabited, so far as is known, by any species of Cervus. 

 I think it extremely improbable that any Stag inhabits Nari ; and 

 under these circumstances it is not desirable to apply the name 

 nariyanus to a species which does not occur there. 



"Whilst Mr. Sclater pointed out the similarity of the head which 

 had been purchased in the Darjiling bazaar, and was described by 

 him, to that of Cervus dyboivsJcii, he was careful to avoid identi- 

 fying the two. It is clear that he was perfectly right in sup- 

 posing that the head, the stin of which was dried on, had come 

 from Tibet. Now that we have the w-hole skin and dimensions, 

 it is evident that the species is distinct from C. dyboivshU (P. Z. S. 

 1876, p. 123, woodcut of head and horns, p. 124), which is a much 

 smaller form, spotted at all seasons, although the spots in winter 

 are described as indistinct and confined to the posterior part of the 

 body. So far as is known the horns in the adult of C. dyhoivskii 

 only bear 4 points each, and the shape of the beam is different, 

 being more regularly curved. 



As therefore the Tibetan species requires a name, I think it 

 impossible to do better than to call it Cervus tlwroldi, after its 

 discoverer. The following are the principal characters : — 



Cervus magnitudine ad C. elaphum proxime accedens ; fuscus, 



immacidatus, area fygali circum caudam -porrectd pallide rufd 



ornatus ; pilis hirtis crassis longiuscidis^ in medio dorso ah 



uropygio bisque ad humeros antice versis, indutus ; cornibus 



singulis valde curvatis, ramos ad quinque gerentibus ; ramo 



secundo a prima vel basali multo distante, tertio longiusculo. 



Plate XXXIV. represents the stuffed specimen in the British 



Museum, the type of the species ; the cut (p. 445) is taken from 



the head of the other specimen, still belonging to Dr. Thorold. 



About a year ago, when discussing the geological age of the 

 Central Asiatic highlands\ I had occasion to call attention to the 

 remarkable specialization of the mammalian fauna inhabiting the 

 Tibetan plateau. The Stag now described adds another to the 



1 Geological Magazine, April 1892, (iii.) ix. p. 164. 



