120 W. T. Blanford— On the species of Marmot [No. 3, 



II. Three skins of A. Himalayanus (the same as examined and de- 

 scribed by Anderson) from Kitchik Yilak, close to the Sanju Pass in the 

 Kuenluen range, south of Yarkand (' Lahore to Yarkand,' p. 10 L). 



III. A skin of A. caudatus (the same as described by Anderson as 

 A. Hemachalanus) from Matayon on the Zogi-la near Dras between Kash- 

 mir and Ladak, and a flat skin of the same probably from Kashmir ; also 

 a skull of the same brought by Mr. Lydekker from the range north of 

 Kashmir. 



IV. The specimens made over by the Asiatic Society to the Indian 

 Museum, three stuffed skins, a skeleton, and two skulls, all enumerated in 

 Blyth's Catalogue*. These require a few words of notice. By both Blyth 

 and Anderson the whole have been referred to A. hobac (i. e. A. Hima- 

 layanus). Two stuffed specimens (one of them young and both with im- 

 perfect tails) which were presented by Mr. Hodgson, probably belong to 

 this species. The other specimens are a stuffed skin and the skeleton from 

 an animal brought alive to Calcutta from Sikkim, and two skulls, one 

 presented by Lieut. Brownlow, who probably procured it in the western 

 Himalayas, and the otber from the Burnes collection, and, therefore, it 

 may be expected, from Afghanistan. I have carefully examined the three 

 skulls and am convinced that they belong, in all probability, to three 

 different species, that of the skeleton differing widely from both the others 

 in the form of the palate and of the nasal bones, in the length of the sagittal 

 crest and the point of its bifurcation, whilst of the two remaining one is much 

 larger than the other, besides other differences. The skeleton is evidently 

 that of a fully adult animal. It measures from snout to insertion of tail 

 15 inches along the curve of the back, the tail vertebra? 4-|. This is very 

 close to the measurement of A. Hemachalanus, and the skin agrees with the 

 description of that species in having the frontal portion of the face dark 

 brown. The fur is short and thin, but it is scarcely probable that the fur of 

 a marmot which had lived for months in Calcutta would retain its original 

 character. I think it highly probable that this specimen really belongs to 

 A. Hemachalanus. It certainly does not agree with A. Himalayanus.^ 



The skull presented by Lieut. Brownlow is, I find by comparison, that 

 of A. caudatus. The Burnes' collection skull, although somewhat resem- 

 bling that of the new species A. aureus, appears to me to belong to a 



* Cat. Mam. Mus. As. Soc, p. 108. 



t I should add, that in these specimens, as in all other skins either of birds or 

 mammals, which have been exposed to the light for many years in Calcutta, the colours 

 have faded greatly, and in all the mammals the texture of the fur appears to have 

 changed, becoming much harsher. I think it much to be regretted that small mammals 

 should be mounted at all ; as a rule valuable skins and types should be kept unmounted 

 in. drawers, and not exposed. 



