1847.] Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. 353 



And I must further take the liberty of recalling Mr. Hodgson's 

 remarks (in X, 915), concerning a critique on his own labours. " It 

 is well known," writes Mr. Hodgson, " that when Mr. Ogiiby wrote, 

 several successive catalogues of mine, embodying the improving results 

 of new information, and greater skill in the appreciation of it, existed ; 

 and had Mr. Ogiiby consulted the whole of them, according to their 

 dates, he might have spared a great part of his cursorious remarks." 

 Thus, with regard to tame Sheep with naturally short tails, Mr. Hodg- 

 son will find, in XV, 153, my printed statement that — "The fighting 

 rams of India seem to me to be of a race descended from Oris Vignei, 

 of which they preserve the crescent horns and short tail :" and in the 

 following page, — "Whether any long-tailed Sheep, with horns describ- 

 ing more than a spiral circle, could have descended from the crescent- 

 horned and short-tailed O. musimon (which is closely allied to O. 

 Vignei), is extremely doubtful." Mr. Hodgson might, therefore, to be 

 consistent with himself, have qualified a little his remarks on this sub- 

 ject (in XV, 343). 



We would now return to the paragraph which I commenced by quot- 

 ing, and examine whether really I founded " many species" of wild 

 Sheep " upon an inspection of the horns solely :" but I will first remark 

 that Mr. Hodgson has himself founded various species of mammalia 

 upon what I consider much less satisfactory data than those afforded 

 by the horns of different wild Sheep, which, in general, (as must be 

 admitted by all who are acquainted with them,) supply exceedingly 

 good specifical distinctions. 



Martes (?) tufaeus, H. (XI, 281). " Have several fine skins from 

 Lassa and Seling, but as they want the teeth and talons and tail, I 

 can but conjecture from information and the specimens as they are, 

 that the animal is a Marten. Thus judging, I should say that the 

 Tovfee has much of the size and proportions of the last or flavigula, 

 but its pelage is much richer and softer. * * * Probable length from 

 snout to vent 20 to 22 inches, mean height 7," &c. Now there is a 

 Tibetan Marten which I have lately had occasion to describe, which 

 I feel very confident to be this M . tvfeeus : but its size does not exceed 

 that of the two European Martens (to which it is very nearly allied), 



gives, as another new species, DimorphaJ nibrocyana, H., which I likewise distinctly 

 informed him was my Muscicapula hypergthra (vide p. 127, ante) ! ! ! 



