434 CHARACTERS OF GRISONS 



Mr. Apliri terms it, 1 is known also as the " Huron." It almost 

 rivals the Skunk in the power of the odour which it can emit 

 when enraged. A trapped specimen was placed in a cage 50 

 yards or so from the house, and even at this distance it was 

 disagreeably easy to tell when any one visited the animal at 

 least when the wind set in the right direction. It is greyish 

 yellow above and blackish beneath, presenting, as has been 



FIG. 220. Grisou. Grisonia vittata. x A. 



remarked, a curious similarity to the Eatel. The nose of this 

 animal is destitute of a median groove, which is present in the 

 Tayra ; the soles of the feet, however, are naked as in that animal, 

 and it is nearly plantigrade in walk. It differs also from Galictis 

 in having sixteen 2 instead of fourteen dorsal vertebrae. Eleven 

 of the ribs reach the sternum. Considering the differences that 

 exist between some other genera of Arctoids, it may be fairly 

 allowed that a genus Grisonia is tenable. 



G. allamandi is darker coloured than the Orison, with a white 

 band from the forehead to the neck. Mr. T. Bell described a 

 tame individual as eating eggs, frogs, and even a young 

 alligator. 



A third genus of this group has recently been founded by Mr. 

 Oldfield Thomas 3 for a small African animal, which is Grison-like 

 in its coloration. The name given to the genus, Galerisciis, 

 is intended to suggest its likeness to the Grison (Galera or 

 Grisonia'). The chief distinctive feature of this genus, whose 

 skeleton is not yet known, is the presence of only four digits on 

 each limb ; the pollex and the hallux being entirely absent. The 

 ears of this Grison are short. 



1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894, p. 306. 

 '- I found fifteen. 3 Ann. Nat. Hist. (6) xiii. 1893, p. 522. 



