PREFACE. 



A CATALOGUE of the Mammalia in the Museum of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, drawn up by the late Mr. 

 Edward Blyth, was published by the Society in 1863. 



In 1865, the Museum of the Asiatic Society practically 

 became the property of the Government of India, although 

 the legal transfer was not completed until 1876. 



The various departments of the Museum have very largely 

 increased since 1863, many of them now being four-fold more 

 extensive than they were seventeen years ago. It was, there- 

 fore, recently resolved to issue a series of catalogues of the 

 various departments of the Museum, with the object of 

 making their contents known, and thus extending the useful- 

 ness of the Institution. 



Two instalments have already been published, viz., a 

 Fasciculus of the Catalogue of the Mollusca, and the first pait 

 of a Hand-List of the same group. The present volume^ 

 therefore, is the third of the series. 



It comprises, however, only the first four orders of the 

 Mammalia, viz., Primates, Prosimia, Chiroptera, and Insecli- 

 vara j but catalogues of the remaining orders will be published 

 as soon as possible. 



Some idea of the increase that has taken place in the 



