72 



SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 



of the upper portion of the body, a few long- hairs intermingled, which measure up to one and a quarter inches ; 

 these are almost or entirely of a black colour. 



On the lower part of the body the hairs are, for two-thirds of their length, dark slaty-blue, and the rest 



pale. 



The head measures nearly always one-fourth 1 of the total length of the animal. The hairs on it are much 

 shorter, and tinged with a dark rufous tint above ; on the sides of the snout they are pale grey ; in front of the 

 eyes and below, pale white ; while on the sides of the head itself there is a slight rufous tint marked, which is 

 a little stronger all round the neck, and extends somewhat further back on the upper body. The hairs round the 

 neck are rather longer, but only half their length of the slaty colour, the rest being pale rufous ; but a few of 

 them are tipped with black. 



The end of the snout and of the upper and lower lips are dark blackish. The hairs of the moustaches are 

 very long, some of them measuring three inches ; the upper ones are chiefly black ; the lower white or half 

 black, half white. The ears are comparatively rather large, oval, terminating with a very obtuse point ; they 

 are well covered with hair, thickest on the outside : the hairs on the inner surface being pale yellow, those on 

 the outer much longer and softer, and distinctly rufous. The feet and soles are, in accordance with the general 

 hue, of a pale fulvous colour, only still lighter, and slightly, and only partially, tinged with a rusty tint ; the 

 toes are black, claws long and dark-brown. 



The young animal does not differ in colour very much from the old one. It is usually much paler, and 

 the difference between the hue on the upper and lower portions of the body is far less distinctly marked. The 

 slaty hue of the inner fur is also more translucent, and the rufous tint on the head and the hinder part of the 

 ears not so strong. 



The measurements, in inches, of three specimens from Rupshu, the eastern province of Ladak, are as 



follows : — 



(a), (bj. (c). 



Total length of the animal 7"50 9"00 9-50 



Length of the skull P90 2"25 2"37 



Proportion of the length of the skull to the total length .... 0-26 025 025 



"Width of the skull 0"87 P25 P25 



Porportion of width to length of the skull 046 0 - 55 0'52 



Length from the snout to the eye 075 l'OC TOO 



Length from the eye to the ear 093 1*12 P12 



Length of the ear 0-62 1*06 POO 



Width of the ear . • . 0-56 087 0 81 



Proportion of the width to length of the ear 0'90 0 82 0'81 



Length of fore-foot and nails , . . . 0'87 P12 P12 



Length of the hind-foot and nails 1-25 T50 P43 



(a) Young specimen from above the Gyagar lake in Rupshu. 



(b) An old, full-grown specimen from near Kozak on the Chomoriri lake in Rupshu. 



(c) Judging from the teeth, this seems to be a very old specimen, from the east side of the Lanak pass, 

 west of Hanle. 



This latter specimen has the fur considerably worn off and injured. I found in the skin of this and some 

 other specimens, which I shot in the Puga valley, a great number of larvse of an (Estrns, which causes the 

 injury and a sort of roughness of the fur. 2 As the tips of the hair get worn off, the hue becomes in some 

 places dark spotted, which is caused by the slaty colour of the interior portions. 



It will be seen from the given measurements that the skull of the young animal is, in proportion to the 

 entire body, a little longer and broader than that of the adult, and the ears are also somewhat larger ( ? smaller) . 

 These proportions may be often observed in mammalia of different ages. 



Lagomys curzonice is one of the largest known species of the genus. Our largest specimen measures 9\ 

 inches, which is only one line less than the greatest measurement of Lagomys alpinus, Pallas. (Fide Water- 



1 One-fifth in the original, but this is evidently, from the measurements, a slip or misprint. 



2 Anderson, P. Z. S., 1871, p. 563, says the worn condition and roughness of the fur is noticed on those parts which are most 

 exposed to become rubbed, as on the lumbar region, rump and sides, and he rejects Stoliczka's explanation. But it should be 

 borne in mind that Stoliczka made his observations on fresh animals 



