Thibetan Zoology. 563 



author, neglecting to make himself acquainted with the labours of 

 Indian naturalists, cannot arrive at any satisfactory conclusion until 

 he has compared the specimen with one in the Edinburgh museum ! 

 Here again his meaning is somewhat obscured by the negligence of 

 his style ; for he says, the Thibetan animal is allied to " Ovis montana" 

 of North America, and to " Ovis ammon" of Siberia, and " in fact, 

 from what he remembers (!) of specimens sent to the Edinburgh mu- 

 seum from Hudson's Bay,* he considers the Indian species identi- 

 cal." Identical with what ? with " O. montana," or with " 0. 

 ammon ?" not with both of them surely, for they are distinct ! unless 

 indeed, on the mathematical principle, " that things which are equal 

 to the same, must be equal to one another," he proposes to double 

 them up all three into one ! 



Regarding the hare of Thibet, Dr. Jameson observes, that " it is 

 larger than the Alpine hare of England, and is therefore probably 

 the largest species known." Had he confined his remark to the 

 simple fact of the superior size of the Thibetan hare, he would have 

 been correct, but why it should " therefore" be the largest species 

 known, we are at a loss to conjecture, since so far from the Alpine 

 hare of Britain (not England) being the largest, it is actually, ac- 

 cording to the Naturalists' Library, the smallest of the three species 

 inhabiting Great Britain and Ireland ! The dimensions given in that 

 work are thus stated : 



Common Hare, Lepus timidus ;" Inches. 



length to end of tail, 26 



head, 5 



tail, 3£ 



. ears, 4f 



from olecranon to end of middle hind- 

 claw, 8 



heel to end of second claw, 5£ 



* We learn from the Naturalists' Library, that the animal does not occur 

 near Hudson's Bay, and that the specimens received in Edinburgh were 

 sent by Dr. Gairdner from the Columbia River. 



