187S.] W. T. Blanford — On some Mammals from Tcnnsserim. 15'> 



Laving the upper parts covered with comparatively small spots, and more nu- 

 merous rings on the tail.* AVith P. gracilis I am only acquainted by de- 

 scription and jSgures.f Judging by these, the principal difference in the 

 colouration is that, in P. gracilis, the pale tint prevails very much more 

 than in P. maculostcs, the upper parts of the former being marked by irregu- 

 larly shaped blackish spots on a pale ground, whereas the upper surface of 

 the latter is dark, with a few white streaks dividing the colour into patches. 

 On the tail of P. gracilis the dark rings are represented as narrower, and, 

 towards the tip, much narrower than the white rings, and there is a long 

 white tip. In P. maculosus the dark tail rings are nearly twice as broad 

 as the light, and the white tail tip is very short, shorter than the last dark 

 ring. The distribution of colour on the head also appears different, the 

 whole nasal region in front of the eyes being dark in P. maculosus, but not 

 in the figure of P. gracilis. The more important dimensions of P. gracilis 

 as given by Horsfield are ; length of the body from the extremity of the 

 nose to the root of the tail 1 ft. Z\ in., length of tail 1 ft. \ in. It is 

 probable these measurements are from a stuffed specimen, but the much 

 smaller size of P. gracilis is shewn by the dimensions of the skull given by 

 Dr. Gray J whose measurements of the two species P. gracilis and P. pardico- 

 lor are the following. Those of P. maculosus are appended for comparison, 



P. gracilis. P. pardicolor, F. maculosus. 



Length of skull, 2" T^ 2" Q'" 3" 



Width at brain case, IV" 10^" V 



Width of zygomatic arch, 1" 3^' Y 2^" 1" &" 



This gives the idea that the skull of P. maculosus is longer and that 

 the breadth across the zygomatic arches is greater in proj^ortion to the width 

 of the brain case than in the other two species, and judging from an imper- 

 fect skull of P. pardicolor in my possession, this is the case. I think it 

 probable that P. onaculosus is a much more powerful animal than either of 

 the other species. The nose is proportionally narrower, more pointed and 

 shorter in P. pardicolor, and the bony palate extends a shorter distance 

 behind the posterior molars;. From the opening of the posterior nares to 

 the anterior palatal foramina the distance is 0*93 inch in P. pardicolor, 1*27 

 in P. maculosus, the form and position of the foramina being similar in the 

 two. 



* Jerdon, Mam. Tnd. p. 124, says eight or nine. I count ten pale rings besides 

 the whitish tail tip on two Sikkim specimens, received from Mr. Mandelli. The 

 rings near the base and tip of the tail are narrower than in the middle. 



t Felis gracilis, Horsfield. Ecs. in Java. This work is not paged, and the plates 

 are not numbered. The animal is described and figured, and the head, feet and denti- 

 tion are separately represented on another plate. 



X Cat. Cam. &c., Mara. Brit. Mua. 18G9. 



§ In the original 1" 7'" but this is, I tliink, clearly a misprint for 1" 7'". 



