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III. An Account of the Indian Badger; the Ursus indicus of S hate's 

 Zoology. By Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Hardwicke, F.L.S. 



Read November 5, 1805. 



As the descriptions of the Indian Badger given by the late 

 Mr. Pennant, in his History of Quadrupeds, No. 21 6, and by 

 Doctor Shaw, in his General Zoology, Vol. i. page 470, are un- 

 accompanied by figures of that animal, I beg leave to submit to 

 - the Linnean Society an accurate drawing (Tab. IX.) of a full- 

 grown Jiving subject, with such remarks relative to the manners 

 of the animal as were obtained from the natives of India, and 

 from observation of a living one kept in my possession more than 

 twelve months. 



To Mr. Pennant's description, the following remark may be 

 added — The claws are unequal : those of the fore feet very loner, 

 and awl-shaped ; the three middle ones much longer than the two 

 lateral ; the interior toe very remote from the rest : those of 

 the hind toes remarkably short, nearly equal, and bearing no 

 comparison to the^strength of the claws of the fore feet. 



The subject here figured was a female: in length two feet four 

 inches, of which the tail measured four inches. Jn height eleven 

 inches. At A. is exhibited the under side of the hind foot. 



This animal is found in several parts of India along the courses 

 of the Ganges and Jumna, between the fortress of Chunar Ghur 

 and Delhi: more particularly where the country is cut into ravines, 

 and in the high banks which in many parts border those rivers. 

 It is rarely seen by day ; but at night visits neighbouring towns 

 and villages, inhabited by Mahomedans, and scratches up the 



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