352 MR. R. SWINHOE ON THE MAMMALS OF FORMOSA. [DeC. 9, 



Judging from this skin, I should say the Formosan Bear mea- 

 sured about four feet from muzzle to tail, and stood about three feet 

 high. It is clothed with rather short, somewhat rigid, black hair, 

 and carries a white mark, like an inverted horse-shoe, on its breast, 

 between its fore legs. 



I have compared the skin with the Sun-Bears in the Museum. Its 

 nearest ally is the Heliarctos tibetanus, which has, however, longer 

 and shaggier hair, especially about the cheeks and legs. This, as 

 Mr. Gerrard observed, might be attributable to seasonal dress. The 

 white horse-shoe on the Tibetan Bear is very similar to that on ours, 

 but has blunter ends. 



The other two Horse-shoe Sun-Bears with which I compared it 

 were the Heliarctos euryspilus, from Borneo, and the H. malayanus, 

 from Malacca. The former of these has short blackish-brown fur, 

 and has only an imperfect- shaped bi'ownish white horse-shoe on the 

 breast. The latter is a small species, with much shorter, softer, and 

 browner fur. 



The Formosan Bear is certainly far more nearly allied to the Ti- 

 betan than to the other two. I think that, in all probability, when 

 an opportunity arrives for examining its anatomy, it will be found a 

 distinct species. At present I can only call attention to the fact of 

 its resemblance to the Tibetan species, rather than to its represent- 

 atives in nearer countries. 



The common mode of capturing the Bear among the savages in 

 in Formosa is, I am told, to tree him, after the same manner that 

 Friday did the animal mentioned in ' Robinson Crusoe,' and then to 

 dispatch him with matchlocks. Bears are often tamed by the Chi- 

 nese, and taught to dance and play tricks, as in India and Europe. 



I observe in the ' Fauna Japonica ' that a crescent-breasted Bear 

 also occurs in Japan, which Temminck refers, without hesitation, to 

 the Heliarctos tibetanus of the Himalayas*. 



3. Leopardxjs brachyurus (PI. XLIII.), n. sp. Formosan 

 Leopard. Chinese, Pah. 



This is another animal from the distant wilds of the interior, whose 

 skins the savages bring to the borders to barter with the Chinese. I 

 have seen two or three skins, all of which agree in the one peculiar 

 feature, the shortness of the tail. It belongs, in general appearance 

 and style of colouring, to the Long-tailed Leopard group, of which I 

 have examined four specimens in the British Museum, marked L. 

 macrocelis, one being from Sumatra, the other three from India. 

 I have also examined a closely allied species from Tibet, L. macro- 

 celides, Hodgs. In the paleness of its yellow fur, and in the dis- 

 position of its markings, the Formosan is again here more nearly allied 

 to the Tibetan ; but the shortness of the tail in one species (only 

 about one-half the length of that of the other) is quite a sufficient 

 character to distinguish it. I have unfortunately only a flat skin in 



[* The Japanese Bear, since the arrival of living specimens in Europe, has been 

 acknowledged to be distinct, and has been described as Ursus japordcus. See 

 an^ed, p. 261.— P. L. S.] 



