2. HERPESTES. 149 



** Smaller animal : hair shorter ; tail ivith a small black or red tip. 



9. Herpestes apiculatus. B.M. 



Fur harsh, dark grey, grizzled with broad black-and-white rings ; 

 hair rather elongate, with black tip and a broad white subterminal 

 band ; tail -ndth a very slight black tip, from the dark end of the 

 terminal hairs. 



Length 14 inches ; tail 11 inches (B.M.). 



Herpestes apiculatus, Grai/, Cat. Mamm. B. M. p. 51 ; P. Z. S. 1864, 



p. 551. 

 Herpestes pulverulentus, Wagner, Supp. Schreh. Siiitgeth. t. IIG. f. 2. 

 Herpestes caffer, Verreaux, MS. 



Hab. South Africa, Cape of Good Hope, on rocks near the sea 

 {A. Smith). 



*** Smaller animal : hair of hochj shorter ; tail coloured like the back. 



t African. 



10. Herpestes punctatissimus. 



Fur short ; the hairs at the base of the tail twice as long as those 

 of the body; the upper part of the body and limbs pale yellow, 

 dotted with very fine blackish-brown rings, covering aU the parts 

 except the chin ; the middle part of the neck and beUy dirty white ; 

 the bail's of the tail, to the extreme point, have many rings ; the tip 

 of the tail pale reddish. 



Length of head and body 10| inches, tail 9 inches. 



Herpestes punctatissimus, Temm. Esq. Zool. p. 108 ; Graxj, P. Z. S. 

 1804, p. 551. 



Hah. Central and Eastern Africa (Temm., 3Ius. Leydcn). 



Teeth very strong, much larger than in other skulls of the same size, 



11. Herpestes loempor-' K^*^ B.M. 



Fnder-fur pale ochraceous ; longer hairs black - tipped ; fur of 

 head, neck, and back yellow-dotted ; back and nape blacker ; tail 

 variegated at the base and tufted with long black bail's which are 

 yellowish at the base ; legs deep black. 



Herpestes loempo, Temm. Esq. Zool. p. 93, 1853 ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, 



p. 551. 

 Herpestes mutgigella, Verreaux, MS. (not Riippell). 

 Arompo, Bosnian, Guinea, p. 33, f. 8. 



In the specimen not in complete fur the ochraceous undercoat is 

 seen through the longer hairs. 



Hah. Guinea, near the graves. (Called " Loempo" by a negro at 

 Guinea.) 



The skull is long, vcntricose ; face and forehead flat, shelving 

 gradually to the back of the orbits, and thenshelving in a straight 

 line towards the hinder part of the head. The ca^-itics for the 

 temporal muscles are very large, and they extend in front, and meet 



