MAMMALIA CARNIVORA. 27 



present time entertain any such notion, because in this, as in every other 

 order, we meet with ascending and descending forms, which present points 

 of connexion in very various directions, and frequently in so many, that no 

 complete serial arrangement, however numerous the series might be, could 

 be carried out. 



URSINA. Burmeister is inclined to characterize the 

 omnivorous Carnivora by the caruassiere being entirely 

 wanting in them, and consequently, that the first molar, 

 from its position, cannot even be regarded as its representa- 

 tive. (Halleschen Literaturzeitnng, 1843, p. 514.) 



I do not agree with him in this, for although in the omnivora the carnassierc 

 does not differ very considerably in its form from the molars, yet such a decided 

 transition in the dentition exists, from the Viverrina, through Paradoxurus, 

 to the Omnivora, through Arctictis, that in order to maintain scientifically 

 the fundamental unity in the dental conformation, a representative of the 

 caruassiere must be looked for also in the Omnivora. To this also it may 

 be added, that in the milk teeth of Proci/ou the upper carnassiere is formed 

 precisely on the type of the true Carnivora, and consequently, from its 

 form, its true nature cannot in this case be overlooked. 



I need oulv refer to the interesting observations on the breeding time and 



v O O 



varieties of our bears, by St. K. v. Sieinuszowa-Pietruski, in these Archives, 

 |>. 3G9. 



Upon receipt of fresh materials, Lund believes that the fossil remains on 

 which he founded his Ursus brasiliensis exhibit rather an alliance with the 

 Cuati, and he now proposes for it the name of Nasita ursina (Archiv. p. 356). 



Of Procyon Psora Gray has given a figure (Sulphur, p. 32, tab. xi and xvii, 

 figs. 1-3). 



MUSTELINA. Gray has characterized three new species 

 of Mustela in the Ann. Nat. Hist, xi, p. 118. 



(1) JImtela Horsjieldii. Uniform dark blackish brown, very little paler 

 beneath ; centre of chin and lower lip white, whiskers black ; tail slender, 

 blacker, half as long as the body and head. Far. ? Throat with a large 

 white spot, chin entirely white. (2) M. Hodysoni. Fur yellowish-brown, 

 rather paler beneath ; the upper part and the sides of the head much darker; 

 face, lips, chin, and throat varied with white ; tail elongated, rather bushy, 

 more than half the length of the body and head. Far. Rather darker, the white 

 extending to between the eyes. Prom the Himalaya. (3) If. Xanthoyenys. 

 Bright chesnut brown, gold yellow beneath ; chin, a small spot above the 

 angle of the mouth, and the feet, white ; a yellowish-white spot under the 

 ears ; a spot behind the angle of the mouth towards the throat, chesnut- 



