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Show 786 MR. "W. T. BLANFORD ON THE [Nov. 3, P. larvatus, P. bondar, P. trivirgatus, and P. binotatus, and classed as doubtful P. leucopus, P. philippensis, and P. prehensilis. This monograph is by far the best attempt at reducing to order a very difficult and complicated genus that has appeared. Gray speaks of it (P. Z. S. 1864, pp. 527, 534) in severe terms ; and there are undoubtedly some mistakes, several of which appear due to information given by Mr. Ogilby having been incorrect or misunderstood. I can only say that Temminck's work appears to me superior in every respect to Dr. Gray's, and that out of the species admitted by the former I find only one, P. bondar, that does not appear a fairly distinct form. Temminck considers P.pallasii, P. crossii, P. dubius, and P. hermaphroditus of Gray identical with P. musanga, P. pennantii the same as P. bondar, and P. hamilfonii identical with P. binotata. In all this I agree ; but the union of P. grayi and P. laniger with P. larvatus, which Temminck gives on the authority of Ogilby, is not admissible so far as the present evidence goes, although P. grayi and P. larvatus appear closely allied. P. laniger seems totally distinct1. Temminck also looked upon the Ambliodon dore and the Paradoxurus philippinensis of Jourdan as the same. This was, I think, a mistake. In De Blainville's ' Osteographie,' under Viverra, an account of the osteology of Paradoxurus typus (P. niger) is given ; and in the Atlas two skulls belonging to the restricted genus are figured-one called P. hermaphroditus in the text and P. typus in the Atlas (probably that of P. niger) ; the other called P. auratus and apparently that of Jourdan's Ambliodon dore, which in the text is recognized as identical with P. leucomystax. Wagner's Supplement to Schreber's Saugethiere, vol. ii., published in 1841, contains descriptions of the following species considered distinct:-P. leucopus, P. grayi, P. nipalensis, P. typus, P. musanga, P. trivirgatus, P. leucomystax, P. hirsutus, P. felinus, P. larvatus, P. laniger, P. annulatus, and P. hamiltoni. Besides these, P. crossi, P. prehensilis, P. quinquelineatus, P. jourdanii, derbyanus, P. zebra, and P. philippensis are enumerated as imperfectly known. P. annulatus is a supposed new species, founded on a young individual with a ringed tail (probably a variety of Nandinia binotata) in the Munich Museum, and P. felinus is proposed as a preferable name for P. hermaphroditus. Wagner's arrangement of the species appears on the whole inferior to Temminck's. In Schinz's 'Synopsis Mammalium,'vol. i., published in 1844, P. typus, P. musanga, P. leucomystax, P. larvatus, P. bondar, P. trivirgatus, P. binotatus, P. annulatus, P. leucopus, P. philippensis, and P. nipalensis are included in the genus ; and in the Supplement to the second volume P. quinquelineatus, P. musangoides, and P. nubia are added. A few other species have been described in various works. Amongst 1 I found some peculiarly coloured specimens of P. grayi in the British- Museum collection labelled P. laniger. It is possible that Ogilby may have seen these, and have thus been induced to confound the two species. |