72 
SECOND YABKAND 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). 
(b). 
(c). 
Total length of the animal.. 
9-00 
050 
Length of the skull . ... 
2-25 
2-37 
Proportion of the length of the skull to the total length 
. 0-26 
0'25 
0-25 
"Width of the skull.. 
. 0-87 
1-25 
1-25 
Porportion of width to length of the skull. 
. 0-46 
0-55 
052 
Length from the snout to the eye. 
. 075 
1-00 
1-00 
Length from the eye to the ear . .. 
. 093 
1-12 
1-12 
Length of the ear. 
. 0-62 
1-06 
1-00 
Width of the ear .. 
. 056 
0-87 
0-81 
Proportion of the width to length of the ear. 
. 0-90 
0-82 
081 
Length of fore-foot and nails. 
. 0-87 
112 
1-12 
Length of the hind-foot and nails. 
. 1-25 
1-50 
1-43 
(a) Young specimen from above the Gyagar lake in Rupshu. 
(5) 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 Ruga valley, a great number of larvae of an CEstrus , 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 curzonica 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. (Vide 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 
