46 General Notes. 



THE PROPER NAME FOR THE STRIPED MUISHOND OF SOUTH 



AFRICA, 



In both Trouessart's Catalog* and Sclater's " Mammals of South Africa,"t 

 the striped muishond bears the name Zorilla striata. As shown below, 

 the generic name Zorilla is untenable, so the next name to be applied 

 to this group must be adopted. This appears to be Ictonyx Kaup, 1835, 

 based on " Di^r C'apiscJie Zorille. Ictonyx capensis." t 



The specific name striata dates from Shaw, 1800,? but is based on Viverra 

 putorius Linn, and therefore refers to a species of Spilogale. The striped 

 muishond is figured on the same plate as a variety of Viverra striata but v.s 

 not named. The earliest specific name proposed for the Cape of Good Hope 

 animal seems to be Mephitis capensis A. Smith, 1826,|1 which species should 

 now be known as Ictonyx capensis (A. Smith). — Arthur H. Howell. 



THE GENERIC NAME ZORILLA. 



The name Zorilla was first used in a generic sense b}' Oken in 181 G.f 

 In the classified list of names at the beginning of the volume it appears as 

 a subgenus of" Mujf'er" with a reference to page 1,000. The generic name 

 is not used in the text, but from a careful examination of the arrangement 

 of groups it seems clear that Zorilla was intended to apply to group " c. 

 lltis.'it." [^Iltisstinkthiere], which l)egins on page 999 and contains three 

 forms. The first of these is named " T7r. Zorilla " and should, on account of 

 the tautonomy, be considered the type of thegenus. The brief diagnosis** 

 is however insufficient to identify even generically the animal in question. 

 It is referred to the " 3f«jt;urJ/o oder Mnfutiliqai" of ihe Orinoco [South 

 America] but so far as known, the skunks of that region all belong to the 

 genus Conepatus, and are not spotted. 



The name Zorilla is in use at the present time by most authors for the 

 zorillas of South Africa, but it is clear from the above evidence that it can 

 not be used for that group, but must be rejected on account of its inade- 

 quate basis. — ^1 rthur H. Howell. 



A BEAR ANIMALCULE RENAMED. 



In 1851 Dujardin (Ann. des sci. nat. Ser. Ill, Vol. V. p. 164) employed 

 the name Lydella to designate a very remarkable, microscopic, marine 

 creature apparently related to the bear animalcules. A specific name was 

 not supplied until 1888, when Plate (Zoolog. Jahrbiicher. Morphol. Abth. 

 Vol. Ill, p. 533) called it Lydella dnjardini in honor of its discoverer. Un- 

 fortunately Lydella is preoccupied. In 1830 Desvoidy employed it for a 



* Catologus Manimalimn, Siippl., p. 191, 1904-1905. 



t The Fauna of South Africa, by W. L. Selatur, Mammals, I, p. 113, 1900. 



t Das Thierreich, I, pp. 3.52-353, 1835. 



§ General Zoology, I, pt. 2, p. 387, 1800. 



II Descriptive Catalog South African Museum, p. 20, 182G. I am indebted to Mr. 

 R. C. Wroughton of the British Museiuii, for a transcript of Smith's descrii)tion. 



1 Lehrbuch der Naturgescliichte, 3 ter Theil, Zool. 2te Abth., p. XI, ISKJ. 



** " Pelz sanfl, ganz gefleekt von wem und schwarz, Schwz verhdllnissmdssig, tind schdn 

 beliaarl." 



