11 
and the majority of the few that are captured show 
a taint of that cross; these three, however, are of 
undoubted purity. 
Tibetan Blue Bear (Ursus pruinosus Blyth). 
Hab., Tibet, in the neighborhood of Llasa. 
In what was probably the last shipment of large wild 
animals from Europe for some time to come, and 
which arrived in New York about February 1st, 
there were several young bears, which had been sent 
over as Russian brown bears (ursus arctos); two of 
these, a male and female, were received by purchase 
on February 9th; they are strikingly different from 
any of the described varieties of that not very 
variable species, but correspond in every external 
particular with the descriptions of the Tibetan 
Blue Bear of Blyth. It has been impossible, so far, 
to ascertain where these animals were captured, 
but their detailed resemblance to the descriptions 
of this species, which is, perhaps, most strikingly 
shown in the hoary appearance of their fur, from 
their white tipped blackish hair, a character not 
known to exist in any other of the Old World bears, 
and to the plate in the Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society of London, under date of April 6th, 1897, 
would appear to justify their specific identification 
as pruinosus, and to consider them, zoologically 
at least, as the most important acquisition of the 
year. 
South African Hedgehog (Erinaceus frontalis A. Smith). 
Hab., South Africa. 
A pair by purchase on June 20th. A very small form 
compared with the common one of Europe. This 
interesting insectivore belongs to an order repre- 
sentatives of which are too infrequently seen in 
living collections. 
Sooty Agouti (Dasyprocta nigra Gray) . 
Hab., Brazil. 
Another rare mammal collected by the South American 
Expedition of the University Museum and pre- 
