1879.] Haris'chandra —On Drista-Tcuta of Sur Bus. 5 
Width of muzzle behind canine teeth,. 2'G 61 
Length of bony palate from the opening of the poste¬ 
rior nares to the anterior border of the premaxilla- 
ries,.... 5152 140 
Length of the lower jaw from angle to symphysis, ... 7'55 192 
Height of ditto, . 4'3 110 
I should have been disposed to consider the Baluchistan bear identical 
with IT. torquatus (U. ihibetanus) but for the arrival of another skull of 
the former at the Indian Museum. This, although fully adult, is so much 
smaller than any full grown skull of the Himalayan black bear, as to ren¬ 
der it possible that the first skull, although precisely corresponding in 
size to that of a female U. torquaius, belonged to a male IT. gedrosianus. 
The latter can, however, be but little more than a race or sub-species of 
the former, and is evidently a near ally. 
The distribution of the Himalayan black bear, if the Baluchistan 
form be classed as a sub-species, is very anomalous and remarkable. It is 
essentially a forest animal inhabiting the slopes of the Himalayas and parts 
of Southern China, and, it is said, even Eastern Siberia, whilst a closely 
allied species is found in Japan. But the extension of this Himalayan 
form to the mountains of Baluchistan has no known parallel amongst 
other animals. The fauna of Baluchistan is desert with an admixture 
of Indian types, but the Indian types are those of the Indian Peninsula 
and not of the Himalaya. The most characteristic Indian forms in Balu¬ 
chistan* are such animals as Sciurus palmarum, Gerbillus indicus, Athene 
brahma, Gymnoris jlavicollis, Ortygornisponticeriana, &c., but nearly all 
are Peninsular types in India, prevalent in the drier parts of the Peninsula, 
and as a rule wanting both in the Himalayas and to the eastward of the 
Bay of Bengal. The only known Baluchistan species that range to the east 
of the Bay of Bengal are two birds, Pratincola caprata and Butastur teesa, 
and a lizard, Calotes versicolor. But all these abound in the plains of India, 
and no example has hitherto been known of an animal wanting in the Indian 
peninsula, but occurring in the Himalayas and also in the hills of Baluchistan. 
The very great difference in physical conditions between the damp forest- 
clad slopes of the Himalayas and the bare ranges of the Baluchistan high¬ 
lands renders it very surprising that the same or closely allied types of 
bear should be found in both areas. 
The Philological Seceetaey read the following extracts from a let¬ 
ter from Biibu Harischandra to Dr. Bajendralala Mitra on a new Hindi 
book—Drista-kuta of Sur Das, with his own commentary. 
* Eastern Persia', Vol. II, p. 15. 
