294? Zoological Society, 



whole of the soles of their feet to the ground, have this part entirely- 

 covered with hair, as the Wolverine, the Panda, the Seals, and the 

 Polar Bear ; but that this was not universally the case, for the Ben- 

 turing, which inhabited the same country as the Panda, has the 

 soles bald and papillary. He further observed, that the nakedness 

 of the soles did not appear to be permanent even in the specimens 

 of the same species in the Squirrel and other Glirine animals ; for 

 he had observed that the specimens of the grey Squirrels, in the 

 Northern part of the United States, had this part covered with hair, 

 whilst those of the Southern parts, had the soles entirely bald ; and 

 he also observed, that the various species of the Spermophile differed 

 greatly amongst themselves in the extent of the nakedness of this 

 part. 



Mr. Gray then proceeded to make some remarks on the alteration 

 in the situation of the teeth, and on the change which takes place 

 in the form of the carnivorous tooth, in the milk and permanent 

 teeth of the Carnivora ; and stated, that the milk carnivorous tooth 

 of the Cat, Dog, Vison, Skunk, Viverra, and indeed of all the genera 

 which he had been able to examine, had a small central internal 

 lobe, whilst the same tooth in the permanent set always had a large 

 anterior lobe; he also stated, that he had observed that the tuber- 

 cular grinders of the Mustelce often vary considerably in size in the 

 various specimens of the same species, showing that implicit re- 

 liance cannot be placed in the size of these teeth as a specific cha- 

 racter, which several persons have been inclined to do, as it is well 

 known that the size of such teeth does not depend upon the age of 

 the animal, as they never alter their size after they are once com- 

 pletely developed. Mr. Gray then proceeded to point out the cha- 

 racters by which the new species exhibited were distinguished : two 

 were said to have formed part of the collection of the late Sir Stam- 

 ford Raffles, and were therefore supposed to have come from Sumatra; 

 one of them was a new species of Paradoxurus, called P. leucomy- 

 stax from its strong white whiskers, and the other Mr. Gray regard- 

 ed as the tjrpe of a new genus which he called Cynogale, which ap- 

 peared to be intermediate between Paradoxurus and Ictides, by dif- 

 fering from both in the length of the face, the compressed form of 

 the false canines, and the small size and triangular form of the car- 

 nivorous grinder. Mr. Gray proposed to call it Cynogale Bennettii, 

 after his late friend, who, he believed, intended to have described 

 this animal if he had lived. Then followed the description of two 

 Foxes, (C. Magellanicus and C. griseus), which formed part of the 

 collection made by Capt. P. P. King, during his survey of the coast 

 of South America, and a Squirrel (Sciurus Douglasii), and three 

 Hares, (Lepus longicaudatus, L. Calif ornica, and L. Douglasii), dis- 

 covered by the late Mr. Douglas in North America. Then the de- 

 scription of three new species of flying Squirrels from various parts 

 of continental India, viz. Pteromys Melanotis, P. albiventer, and P. 

 Leachii; the latter, presented by Mr. Mellishtothe Society, is pecu- 

 liar for being coloured exactly like the American Sciuroptera, but is 

 at once distinguished from them by the length and cylindrical form 



