PEEFACE. 
The following Catalogue of the specimens of the 
class Mammalia contained up to date in the Museum 
of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, has been long in 
preparation. Periods of sickness and of absence have 
intervened ; the excessively crowded state of our 
cases has added to the difficulty ; and I have not 
had the advantage of the aid of a well qualified 
Assistant (as when drawing up the Catalogue of 
Birds) ; besides that I have had a variety of other 
works needing prompt attention, from time to time, 
and even much that I have been quite unable to get 
through. My friend, Dr. Jerdon, will, indeed, kindly 
see to the correcting of the last few pages of the 
Catalogue for the press. In the collocations of syno- 
nyms, I have, of coarse, been greatly indebted to 
sundry of the British Museum Catalogue and synop- 
tical papers of my friend Dr. J. E. Gray ; but 1 
have not implicitly followed that eminent Zoologist, 
especially as regards the hahitats of various species, 
which, I believe, to be quite correctly assigned 
throughout the present volume. 
