1908.] ON MAMMALS FROM NORTH CHINA. 635 



Dr. Forsyth Major also exhibited photographs of Pliocene 

 Bovince from specimens in the Florence Museum, stating that 

 these nnpublished figures showed the great variability of the 

 Pliocene Bovince. He added that he endorsed Falconer's opinion 

 that these Pliocene Bovince were nearly related to the primitive 

 Buffaloes from the Siwaliks. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. The Duke oi; Bedford's Zoological Exploration in Eastern 

 Asia. — X. List of Mammals from the Provinces of 

 Chih-li and Shau-si, N. China. By Oldfield Thomas, 

 F.R.S., F.Z.S.* 



[Keceived May 2, 1908.] 

 (Plate XXXII.) 



During the four months following his excursion to the Mon- 

 golian plateau t, Mr. M. P. Anderson made collections in different 

 parts of the northern provinces of China, Ohih-li and Shan-si, 

 and it is an interesting comment on our ignorance of the Fauna 

 of that part of the world that, in spite of the previous work 

 of David, Swinhoe, Styan and others, he has obtained quite a 

 number of new forms. 



Thi-oughou-t the region, the country has proved to be extremely 

 barren and poor in mammals, and the possible collecting-grounds 

 few and far between. But this very fact renders such collecting 

 places as Mr. Anderson has found all the more interesting, for 

 they almost bear the character of faunistic islands, in which 

 the original inhabitants have been locally preserved, and which 

 are separated from each other by a sea of barren treeless plains 

 where few animals can live. The proper exploration of these 

 oases of life is therefore peculiarly valuable. No doubt the 

 difficulties of collecting have been accentuated during the winter 

 months, and we may hope that during the present spring- 

 Mr. Anderson will find a number of additional forms which in 

 the winter have been lying dormant. 



Of previoiis literature there is not much to be referred to 

 beyond the well-known publications of David, Milne-Edwards, 

 and Swinhoe, and an interesting paper by 0. F. von Mollendorff J 

 giving a popular account of the Mammals of Ohih-li, with notes 

 on the Ohinese names. 



* [The complete account of the new species described in this communication 

 appears here ; but since the name and preliminary diagnosis of one were pubhshed 

 in the ' Abstract,' that species is distinguished by the name being underlined. — 

 Ebitoe.] 



t Supra, p. 104. 



j " The Vertebrata of the Province of Chih-li, with Notes on Chinese Zoological 

 Nomenclature," Journ. N. China Branch Roy. As. See. (2) xi. p. 41, 1877. 



