318 W. T. B\mford—0?i two Asiatic Bears [No. 4, 



tion of another imj^erfectly known species of bear, for the skin of which I 

 am indebted to Mr. L. Mandelli. The skin was brought to Mr. Mandelli 

 at Darjiling by a man who said that he had purchased it at Lhassa, and 

 that the animal inhabited the plains in the neighbourhood of that city. I 

 could find no description of this animal until Dr. Anderson called my 

 attention to a notice by Mr. Blyth in the Society's Journal for 1853, Vol, 

 XXII, p. 589, of an imperfect skin, supposed to be that of a variety of 

 the Himalayan black bear ( TTrsus torq^uatus v. tihetanus) for which the 

 name jpruinosus was suggested, should the species prove distinct. Whilst 

 I doubt whether a name thus bestowed has any claim to recognition, I 

 shall retain the term proposed in the present case, as it appears unobjection- 

 able. The specimen was briefly noticed in Blyth' s Catalogue of the Mam- 

 malia in the Museum of the Asiatic Society, and in Jerdon's ' Mammals', 

 as the ' Blue Bear' of Tibet, a name under which the original specimen 

 was sent by Dr. Camj)bell. The skin now received is perfect and in fair 

 condition, but the greater part of the skull is wanting, only the jaws 

 having been retained with the skin, and even of these the hinder teeth are 

 defective. The animal was probably of considerable size, judging by the 

 teeth, which are much larger than any in the skulls of Z7. isahellinus in 

 the Museum, except in one case, of which more presently. It is manifest 

 that the animal is distinguished by the characters of the fur, claws and 

 dentition, from U. torquatus, and that it is in all probability closely allied 

 to U. isalellinuSj and consequently to the Euroj^ean bear, TI. arctos. 



Uestjs peuinosus. 



Blyth, J. A. S. B., 1853, XXII, p. 589. 



' Blue Bear' of Tibet ; Blyth, Cat. Mam. Mus. As. Soc, p. 76.— Jerdon, 

 Mammals of India, p. 71. 



Ursus major, affinis U. isabellino, supra fusco-fidvios, pilis dorsalihus 

 longiusculis, confertis, suhnoUibus, nigris , fulvo -terminatisy capite humeris- 

 quefulviSy artuhus nigris, unguibus pallidis fortibus. 



The general colouration above is tawny brown, palest on the head and 

 shoulders, darker on the back, where the hairs are black with tawny tips, 

 and black on the limbs. The head is tawny, much of the same colour as 

 Ursus isahelUmi'S, a little darker and browner under the eyes and on the 

 forehead : the ears have tufts of long hair mixed tawny and black. Be- 

 hind the head the neck is rather darker, but on the upper part of the breast 

 there is a broad pale tawny creseentic band, with the ujDper terminations 

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

 in J7. isahellinus. In U. labiatus and TI. torqiiatus the band is confined 

 to the breast, and the same appears to be the case in JJ. Gedrosianus. The 

 upper and hinder parts of the shoulders in JJ.pruinosits are covered with tawny 



