1897.] BLUB -BEAU OF TIBET. 413 



head and shoulders, darker on the back, where the hairs are black 

 with tavvnj- tips, and black on the limbs. The head is tawny, ranch 

 oE the same colour as Ursus isahelUnus, a little darker and browner 

 under the eyes and on the forehead ; the ears have tufts of long 

 hair mixed tawny and black. Behind the head the neck is rather 

 darker, but on the upper part of the breast there is a broad pale 

 tawny crescentic band, with the upper terminations prolonged 

 upwards, in front of the shoulder, almost to the back, precisely 



as in U. isabellinus The upper and hinder parts of the 



shoulder in U. pruinosus are covered with tawny hairs about 3| to 

 4 inches long, whilst the interscapulary region, like the rest of the 

 back, is clothed with black hairs, fulvous at the tips. The hair is 

 moderately fine and about 3 inches long on the back. Apparently 

 the animal when killed was about to lose its long winter coat, for 

 the hair is much felted and matted together in places, and a 

 short fine tawny hair is seen to be growing beneath. The 

 hoarj^ appearance given to the fur by the fulvous tips is extremely 

 , characteristic, but it may very possibly be less conspicuous at 

 some seasons. 



" The claws are pale in colour, strong and modei'ately curved, 

 the first (and longest) cla.v on the fore foot measuring ;2-2 inches 

 in a straight line frum insertion to tip, and 2-75 round the curve ; 

 the corresponding measurements of the first hind claw are 1"3 and 

 1"4 inches. 



" The animal is evidently very old, several of the premolars 

 have been lost and the alveoli obliterated ; the molars are much 

 worn. As alread)^ mentioned, the size of the teeth, and especially 

 of the molars, is unusually large ; the canines appear very little 

 larger than in U. lahiatus. The posterior molar in the upper jaw 

 is wanting on one side and imperfect on the other, it must be 

 nearly l:j inches long and its anterior portion is 0-88 broad ; the 

 antepenultimate ' (first true molar) measures 0-9 inch in length 

 by 0"72, the tooth anterior to this, or hindmost premolar, is 

 0"62. The three together when perfect must have measured 

 nearly 3 inches in length.'" 



The writer also describes a large skull which he thinks may very 

 probably belong to the same species, but as this identification is 

 not certain, I prefer not to take the specimen into consideration. 

 In a later work " Mr. Blanford suggests that U. pruinosus may not 

 be specifically distinct from U. arctus, of which U. isabellinus is 

 regarded merely as a local race. Still later Mr. W. L. Sclater ^ 

 considers that CI. pruinosus is not separable from U. isabellinus, 

 although the latter is separated from U. arctus. He remarks that 

 " in the Eastern Thibetan variety ( U. pruinosus) the hair is blackish 

 or bluish, but it is hardly worthy of separation even as a geographical 

 race." 



In the year 1892 the Natural History Museum received a skin 



^ The author obviously means penultimate. 

 " Fauna of Brit. India, Mamm. p. 194 (1888). 

 ^ Oat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. pt. ii. p. 302 (1891). 



