Proceedings of the general meetings for scientific business of the Zoological Society of London, 1904 vol. 2

Page 195

1 9 0 4 .] NEW FORM OF BUFFALO. 1G5 it may be mentioned that two Cape Buffaloes in the British Museum have a well-developed coat of black hair. As this Buffalo has obviously nothing to do with the one from East Africa recently described by Mr. Thomas*, I propose to regard it as^a jiew race, under the title of Bos cafer mathewsi (cf. Abstr. P. Z S. 1904, no. 9, p. 10, June 14), the Museum spe­cimens being of course the types. It may be shortly defined as a race of the approximate size of B. c. nanus, but with the abundant black mstead of red, and the tail-tuft white ; the horns being at the same time larger, more curved outwardly, and then inclined backwards near the lateral bend. Text-fig. 31. Front \iew (rf skull of male Buffalo, Bos (Bulalus) caffer mathewsi, from the Mfumbiro district of East Central Africa. | nat. size. 1 always feel I owe an apology to naturalists when adding to the list of subspecies; but the present form has certainly claim to recognition on account of its tending to connect the Cape with the Congo Buffalo-two forms which at one time I had some compunction m regarding as specifically the same. * P. Z. S. 1904, vol. i. p. 371.