40 



SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 



These measurements would of course be for the most part rather more in fresh speci- 

 mens. 



The following are the dimensions of a skull : — 





Metre. 



Inches. 



Length from occipital plane to end of premaxillaries . 



. -026 



1-03 



Breadth across zygomatic arches .... 



. -017 



0-67 



Do. between orbits ...... 



. -004 



0-15 



Length of nasal bones ...... 



. -008 



0-3 



Breadth of ditto in front ...... 



. -0035 



0-13 



Length of upper molars taken together 



. -007 



0-28 



Distance from incisors to upper molars 



. -0095 



0-38 



Length of lower jaw from condyle to symphysis 



. -019 



0-75 



The nasal bones are suddenly constricted at rather less than half their length from the 

 front ; thence they continue nearly the same width to the posterior extremity, where they are 

 rounded. The incisors are orange in front, the upper pair sometimes with a very shallow 

 groove down the middle. The anterior molar in the upper jaw consists of five prismatic lobes 

 and has three salient angles inside and three outside ; the second consists of four lobes with 

 two angles inside and three outside ; the third of four lobes, the last being irregularly shaped 

 and turned round at the end so as almost to form a fifth, and with three salient angles, the 

 hindmost less prominent, inside, and three outside. In the lower jaw the anterior molar has 

 four salient angles externally, five internally. The second tooth consisting of five prisms has 

 three angles on each side, the third tooth consists of three lobes, and has three projections 

 inside and two very small on the outside. 



On one of the labels it is stated that this species lives in holes in grassy places and 

 fields. Stoliczka in his diary mentions finding it in the range north of Kashmir as well as 

 on the Pankong lake. Mr. Theobald's original specimens were from the Tso-moriri, 1 between 

 Spiti and the Pankong lake, and he noticed its abundance on the shores of the lake where he 

 frequently found that its holes " were ranged in a long line against a bank, and usually ex- 

 tended so far, that all attempts to capture an animal by digging or flooding the holes with water 

 proved fruitless." He adds : "After infinite trouble, however, I managed to dig out an adult 

 female, which on examination I found to contain six young ones, the size of horse-beans, 

 three in each horn of the uterus. The total length of this specimen was 615 inches, of 

 which the head was 13, and the tail 1*25 inches. I subsequently got several more, mostly 

 half grown, watching near their holes with a gun." 



Of the types procured by Mr. Theobald, one, in spirit, was presented to the Asiatic 

 Society's Museum. This, after some search, has been refound by Mr. Theobald himself, and, 

 although the label had been lost, satisfactorily and unmistakably identified. The specimen, 

 although considerably smaller than the female mentioned above, proves to be an adult male. 

 It is precisely similar to the specimens brought by Dr. Stoliczka from the Pankong lake. • 



Dr. Stolickza, too, in his account (J. A. S. B., 1865, xxxiv, p. 110,) of the Jjagomys, 

 which he identified with L. curzonice," mentions this species as inhabiting the borders of the 

 Tso-moriri with the Jjagomys and an Arctomys 3 . He says that the Arvicola (Phaiomys) 

 never frequents a great elevation above the bottom of the valleys, and is especially numer- 

 ous in the neighbourhood of streams. He adds that it is found in Spiti and Lahoul, and 

 even in Kulu. 



1 Tso, lake in Tibetan, sometimes written Cho, but I believe incorrectly. 

 - L. ladacensis. q. v. 



3 Probably A. caudatus, Jacquemont, q. v. 



