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Show 1874.] DR. J.E. GRAY ON THE STEPPE-CAT OF BOKHARA. 31 3. On the Steppe-Cat of Bokhara (Chaus caudatus). By Dr. J. E. GRAY, F.R.S. &c. [Received November 21, 1873.] (Plates VI. & VII.) The Zoological Department of the British Museum has lately received the skin and skull of a cat which is labelled "Felis servalina 2 Cocan." On the other side of the ticket is a Russian note, which Mr. Ralston has kindly translated for m e as follows :-" Bokhara Steppe-cat (with skull), near the river Dyanan, 19th November, 1857, Saliko." Saliko is probably the name of the collector. Mr. Ralston also informs m e that Daria means river; and I see by the atlas that Cocan, or Khokan, is situated on the Sir Daria ; and I suppose that Dyanan is a branch of the river Sir, which falls into the sea of Aral. Mr. Dresser has kindly lent to m e an essay, in Russian, on the animals of Turkestan, which has not yet been received by the Library of the British Museum or of the Zoological Society. It is by N . A. Syevertzov, and is entitled " A n Essay on the vertical and horizontal Distribution of Turkestan animals," from the Transactions of the Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography, vol. viii. part ii. (Moscow, 1873). In the list of Turkestan animals, the name of Felis servalina occurs, and possibly it is the same as Felis servalina on the label of the specimen. M. Syevertzov does not describe or figure it as a new species, but prints the name as he does those of all the well-known species, not in italics as he does those which he considers new. H e does not give any authority for the species; and therefore it is impossible to make out which of the cats that bear the name of Felis servalina he considers it to be. There are no less than three species so named in the collection of the British Museum, viz.:- 1. Felis servalina of Ogilby, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 4, from Sierra Leone, W . coast of Africa. 2. Felis servalina, Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 401, from India. N ow called Felis herschelii, Cat. Carniv. B. M . p. 28. 3. Chaus servalinus, Gerrard, Cat. Bones B. M . p. 65, which is a synonym of Felis serval of W . Africa. But Chaus caudatus is undoubtedly distinct from all these. The cat is, I believe, a species not yet inscribed in the catalogues of the genus Chaus. It has the close soft fur and general colouring and pencilled ears of that genus ; but instead of having the short tail only reaching to the hocks or heels of the hitherto known species of that genus, its tail is elongate-cylindrical, reaching to the ground. I therefore propose to call it Chaus caudatus. CHAUS CAUDATUS, n. sp. (Plate VI.) Fur close, soft, pale yellowish, blackish brown at the base, with |