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Show 1882.] PROF. ST.-GEORGE MIVART ON THE ALUROIDEA. 181 margin of the meatus auditorius externus. The muzzle is short; but the palate is much prolonged behind the last molars. Its dentition, compared with that of Herpestes, presents the following characters : - ^ ^ is more quadrate and more nearly equal in size to - . " ^ is very quadrate. - is very slightly sectorial, with a large internal tubercle, and resembles the same tooth in the least sectorial Paradoxures. *JJ is very large, and has a well-developed internal tubercle, with a small cusp behind the large external one, and another small one in front of it, larger, however, than the hindmost outer cusp. - has a rudimentary internal cusp, and both a minute anterior and a minute posterior external cusp. -1- is very small. Besides these four upper premolars and the molars, there is also a small tooth, with a minute basal cusp, placed close behind each upper canine; yet the skull is that of a rather aged individual. 1 regard this extra tooth as something abnormal. J0-2 *s uiuch larger and more quadrate than in Herpestes. ^-^ is also more quadrate than in Herpestes, and has apparently been quadricuspidate, but is much worn, p-^, -p-^, p-g, and -p-y are much as in Herpestes. Unfortunately I have no means of ascertaining the condition of the anal region. From an examination of the dry skin, the anus appears to m e to open into a depression, as in some Her-pestce. Except as above indicated, the characters of Rhinogale are those of Herpestes. Length of the head and body about 53"*1, of the tail 38"*1. The genus Crossarchus1 was founded by F. Cuvier in 1825 for the Mangue, of which he has given a figure (Mammiferes, iii.). It is referred to in Temminck's ' Esquisses,' p. 117. Its anatomy was described by Mr. W . Martin (P. Z. S. 1834, p. 113). The genus is widely spread over Africa :-one species, C. obscurus, from Abyssinia to Gambia and the Cameroons, and another, C. fasciatus, from Southern Africa; a third, C. gambianus, from Gambia; and a fourth, C. zebra, from Abyssinia. All have the hair annulated, the ears small and rounded, the tarsus bald; and they are devoid of a median groove beneath the muzzle. The snout is elongated, hairy beneath, and more or less turned upwards towards the tip. They also have a pollex and hallux ; but these are shorter in C.fasciatus than in C. obscurus. The claws are much elongated. In C.fasciatus there are transverse bands or lines, more or less marked, across the back ; these are absent in C. obscurus. The pupil is round. The length of the head and body is 36"*8, of the tail 17"*1, in C. obscurus; and 45"*8 and 22"*9 in C.fasciatus. The skull of the typical form, C. obscurus, has a bulla on the type of Herpestes, but with its character exaggerated. There is an alisphenoid canal, but very short, and often imperfectly ossified ; but bony processes tending to enclose it may always be detected. 1 This genus includes the genus Mungos, Gray, P.Z. S. 1864, p. 575, and Cat. of Carnivora, p. 174. |