320 W. T. Blanford— 0;^ fioo Asiatic Bears [No. 4, 



Breadth across hinder j^ortion o£ zygomatic arches, 8' 8 



Breadth of frontal bones between orbits, 3-3 



Breadth of palate between posterior molars, 1-9 



Length of 3 posterior molars in upper jaw, 2*7 



Length of lower jaw from angle to symjAjsis, 9"8 



The bears of India and the neighbouring regions, so far as known, now 

 consist of the following species : 



TTrsus Ilalayanus. Malay Peninsula and Burma to Arakan. 



TT. torquatus. Forest region of the Himalayas, and, it is said, the 

 hills South of Assam. 



U. pruinostos. Plains of Eastern Tibet. 



IT. isahellinus. Western Himalayas, chiefly above the forests, un- 

 known in Tibet, and even in the Uj)per Indus Valley, Ladakh, &c. 



U. {Melursus) lahiatus. Plains and hills of Peninsular India and 

 Ceylon, extending, it is said, into the hills South of Assam. 



TI. Gedrosianus. Hills .of Western Sind. 



Of the above TT. pridnosus is the only species not found within Indian 

 limits. The discovery that TTrsus pruinosus is widely different from 

 TT. torguatus removes the last excuse for applying to the latter animal 

 a name derived from a country in which no such sj)ecies exists. The 

 range of TTrsus torquatus has now been fairly ascertained to be Cis- 

 Himalayan in Southern Asia, although some naturalists refer bears from 

 Japan and Eastern Siberia to the same species, and as the use of the speci- 

 fic name Tihetanus involves a serious error, some other term should be 

 substituted. 



Fortunately in this instance there is no need to suggest a new name, 

 for Wagner,* in 1841, j)roposed to call this bear TT. torquatus on the ground 

 that the animal not being known in Tibet, the original name given by 

 Cuvier was inappropriate. Wagner's name was adopted by Schinzf, and sub- 

 sequently by Dr. J. E. Gray J, who however appears to quote Schinz as its 

 author. Mr. Blyth, in the ' Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum 

 Asiatic Society,' p. 77, referred TT. torquatus, Schinz, to TT. lahiatus, but this 

 is evidently a mistake, as can be seen from Schinz' s descrij)tion and from 

 the facts mentioned above. It is probable that Mr. Blyth, who worked 

 under the disadvantage of having a very imperfect scientific library at 

 command, took the reference from some other authority. 



No one can be more averse than I am in general to changing sj^ecific 

 names, but I think, following the British Association rule, that a name 



* Schreber, Saugethiere, Supplement band, II, p. 144. 



t Syn. Mam., I, p. 302. 



X P. Z. S., 18G4, p. 688; Cat. Cam. Pach. Edent. Mam., Brit. Mus., 1869, p. 225. 



