1853.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 581 



pallidiventris, (Hodgson),* in spirit, " from limestone caves near Matar 

 Nag, N. of Islamabad" (Kashmir), — Vulpes flavescens (?), Gray,f — 

 Herpestes nyula, Hodgson, var. (with bright rufous face and tail-tip), J 

 — H. aueopunctatus, Hodgson, — Felis chaus, Guld. (v. Jacquemontli, 

 Is. C x>ff., &c.),— F. Huttoni, nobis, J. A. 8. XV, 169,§— Erinaceus 



* Extremely close to the European M. pipistrellus, but may readily be dis- 

 tinguished by the much greater length of the fore-thumb, which, with its claw, 

 measures nearly £ in. (not following the curvature of the claw). The general hue 

 of fur of the upper-parts appears to run greyer or less fulvous, and of the under, 

 parts to be more albescent, than in the European Pipisr.relle ; but there may be 

 considerable variation of shades of colour. Ca|>t. Hutton's Masuri Pipistrelle 

 (J. A. S. XXI, 360), is again distinct, being of a much darker colour than the 

 two others, and it is especially characterized by the diminutive size of the foot, 

 which, with claws, scarcely exceeds T \ in., — Myotis parvipks, nobis, n. s. la 

 other respects the three species are very closely affined. 



f Much brighter-coloured than Afghan specimens, and the tints purer and more 

 strongly contrasted ; the legs much paler, or more rufescent and less nigrescent, 

 than in the larger V. montanus of the sub- Himalayas generally. Size, and the 

 proportions of skull, the same as in the Fox of Afghanistan and Persia. 



% Mr. Gray has recently noticed two Herpestidine animals from Ceylon (Ann. 

 Mag. N. H., July, 1853, p. 47). One, his Herpestes Smfthii, Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 1837, II, 578, = H. rubiginosw, Kelaart, v. Ellwti, nobis, J. A. 8. XX, 162, 

 184, XXI, 348, and inhabits also the Nilgiris and Travancore. The other, Cynic- 

 tis Macarthije, Gray (loc. cit.J, does not seem to be H. fulvescens (v. 

 fiavidens), Kelaart, J. A. S. XX, 162, 184, XXI, 348 ; but may nevertheless prove 

 to be no other. A cynictis, however, should have no fifth toe to the hind-foot, 

 which exists in H. fulvescens. 



§ This seems to be the same small Cat, affined to the domestic races, as that of 

 which an imperfect skin was procured by Capt. Thomas Hutton at Kandahar ; but 

 the fur of Capt. Hutton's specimen is much longer, indicating probably the win- 

 ter vesture, whereas Mr. Theobald's specimen has short fur, and might well pass 

 for a variety of the domestic Cat, which perhaps it is I incline, however, to the 

 opinion that it is probably one of several wild types which have merged in domes- 

 tication to produce the domestic Cat. Now the resemblance of the domestic Cat 

 of Bengal, and I believe of India generally (if not also of Esrypt, Barbary, and 

 even Spain ?), to the wild F. maniculata, Ruppell, is most manifest ; but this 

 is far from being the case with the tame Cats of northern Europe, the resemblance 

 of which to the European wild Cat (F. sylvestris, Aldrovand,) becomes much 

 stronger to an eye familiarized with the appearance of the domestic Cats of India, 

 than to that of an observer unacquainted with the latter. It is not probable that 



