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Show 1887.] NOMENCLATURE OF INDIAN MAMMALS. 627 conspicuously white." The crown and body too are darker than in P. priamus. I cannot help suggesting that the so-called Presbytes thersites was really a variety of S. cephalopterus, perhaps approaching the variety called S. kelaarti by Schlegell. V. On Semnopithecus pileatus and S. chrysogaster. Dr. J. Anderson, in his ' Anatomical and Zoological Researches' (p. 13), and again in his ' Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian Museum,' has classed these terms as synonymous, I think from having misunderstood some remarks of Blyth's in the posthumous 'Catalogue of the Mammals and Birds of Burma,' p. II2. The two species are really very different, not only in coloration, but in structure, for S. pileatus has a peculiar cap of long harsh hair confined to the crown of the head, of which there is no trace in S. chrysoyaster^ The latter however appears, judging by the only known adult specimen, to have a compressed crest extending from the vertex to the nape. Although an excellent figure of S. chrysoyaster was published bv Professor Peters (MB. Akad. Berlin, 1879, p. 830, pl. iv. b), no description except Blyth's (Cat. M a m m . Birds Burma, /. c), taken from the drawing, has ever appeared, so far as I am aware. The animal might, however, easily be recognized from Blyth's account, which is good. It is marvellous that so beautiful a species as S. chrysoyaster should never have been detected again, if this animal is really from Tenasserim. It is true that the interior of Tenasserim, even to this day, is almost uninhabited, and very rarely visited by Europeans, the difficulties of travelling being excessive. But still it is remarkable that amongst the collections made since the days of Heifer by Major Berdmore, Captain Beavan, Mr. Davison, Mr. Limborg, Captain Bingham, and others, no specimen of so conspicuous a form should have been detected. Had not Peters (P. Z. S. 1866, p. 429, footnote) distinctly stated that the types were from Tenasserim, and had not Blyth (I. c.) confirmed the statement and added that they were collected by Heifer, I should be disposed to regard the locality as very doubtful. I examined the specimens when I was in Berlin two vears since, and found them to be labelled " Tenasserim- Prof.'Strempel," but I could learn nothing of their history. VI. Notes on some of the Varieties of Felis bengalensis, Kerr, and especially on Felis jerdoni, Blyth. The wild Spotted Cat of the Indian and Malay forests, appropriately named the " Leopard-cat ': by Jerdon, has been very differently regarded by various naturalists. By some the differences in the size, form, and distribution of the spots, in the tint of the 1 Mon. Singes, Mus. Pays-Bas, vii. p. 52. 2 J. A. S. B. xliv. 1875, extra number. |