136 



JlELINIDiE. 



by the stretching out of the hinder part of the body, so as to make 

 it look like a Mephitis, for which the stuffer evidently mistook it. 



Prom the examination of the stuffed and unstuffed skins, I have 

 considered aU the specimens we have in the British Museum to be 

 varieties, because the differeuces iu the coloration appear to pass 

 into one another ; but when we have the power to compare the 

 living animal and the skeleton of each, we may discover that some 

 of them are distinct species, ha\dug a peculiar geographical range. 



Professor Lichtenstein notices another species, under the name of 

 M. GumiUce, on the authority of a notice of Skunk called " Maskutio " 

 and " Mafutiliqui " in Giimilla's 'Oriuoko' (vol. ii. p. 276), which is 

 said to have many decurrent streaks and a villous tail. 



7. MEPHITIS. 



Nose short, underside hairy, with a distinct central groove ; muzzle 

 small ; ears ovate, hairy, exposed. Hind feet moderate, siibplanti- 

 grade ; sole bald nearly or quite to the heel, the front portion di- 

 vided into three large pads, placed in an arch ; front claws elongate, 

 arched, strong, white. Tail elongate, as long as, or longer than the 

 body, with long, flaccid, dependent hair. Skull ovate ; orbit incom- 

 plete. Teeth 34 ; false grinders f ; upjjcr tubercular grinder small, 

 moderate-sized. 



Mephitis, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 147. 

 Mephitis, § 1, Gray, Mag. N. H. 1837. 



" The foetid hquid is secreted by two glands, which empty directly 

 into the rectum, and are enveloped in a thick muscular membrane, the 

 contraction of which causes the ejection of the fluid to a considerable 

 distance ; it is said, however, to be restrained by holchng the animal 

 up by the tail ; when first discharged, it is said to be phosphorescent 

 at night." — Baird, Mamm. N. A. p. 191. See also " Anal Pouches 

 of the Mephitis conencana," Warren, Proc. Boston Soc. N. H. ii. 

 p. 175, 18.50 ; Wyman, Proc. Boston Soc. N. H. 1844, p. 110. 



Prof . Lichtenstein divides this into two subgenera — "planta pilosa" 

 for M. mesonielas, and " planta subnuda " for 31. chinr/a and the other 

 species. I find the extent of the baldness of the sole varies in the 

 diS'erent specimens of the same variety, both in the young and old 

 specimens. The form and number of the pads are always alike, only 

 becoming more marked in the older examples. 



* Tail as long as body. 



1. Mephitis varians. B.M. 



Black, with two white streaks, converging and united on the 

 crown ; tail elongate, bushy; hair flaccid, black, generally white at 

 the base, or all white. 



Mephitis varians, Gray, Mag. N. H. 18-37 ; P. Z. S. 1865, p. 148 ; 



Baird, Mamm. JV. A. p. 193; Mexico, pp. 19, 192 (skull). 

 Mephitis macroura. And. i$- Bachm. N. A. Quad. ii. t. p. 102 (not 

 Licht.). 



