244 NORTH AMERICAN MU8TELID.E. 



of greatest inflation, but, beliind them, the part that reaches 

 between the hiteral elements of the occipital bone and the 

 lateral portion of the lambdoidal crest is also turgid, having a 

 general smooth convexity instead of an irregular concavity. 

 The general turgescence is due to the greater development of 

 the mastoid sinuses. The bony palate ends in the same rela- 

 tive position as in M. mephitlca, and shows the same variation 

 in the character of the edge of this shelf. 



The mandible, though, of course, proportionally smaller than 

 in M. mephitica^ is identical in shape, contrasting equally well 

 with the peculiarities of Conepatus, elsewhere mentioned. 



The smaller size aside, there is scarcely anything in the 

 dentition of this species calling for comment in comparison 

 with Mephitis. The anterior premolar is well developed, and, 

 as far as I can see, the dentition is, in other respects, nearly 

 identical with that of Mephitis; the upper sectorial tooth (pos- 

 terior premolar), however, has the cusp of its inner moiety 

 rather a pointed process of the border itself than a conical 

 cusp, surmounting this inner part. 



It should be noted that in one specimen, as an abnormality, 

 the anterior upper premolar has aborted entirely on the right 

 side, though present on the left; while the lower jaw of the 

 same specimen shows an abortive posterior premolar on the 

 left side. But, in general, in Mephitince^ abortion or other 

 irregularities of dentition are less frequent than in the Miiste- 

 Uncc, where the smaller teeth are more crowded. 



History of the species. 



In the case of an animal whose markings are so variable as 

 those of the Striped Skunk, recognition of the species in nature 

 becomes a matter requiring some judgment and experience; 

 and it is not in the least remarkable that compilers of vague 

 and often conflicting descriptions, or of inaccurate figures 

 badl}^ drawn from stuffed specimens, or even prepared from 

 poor descriptions, should have made inextricable confusion. In 

 an attempt to trace the written history of MeijhitisjyutoriuSy it is 

 probably not possible to identify all the names which have beeu 

 imposed upon it, nor even to fix the date of its first appearance 

 in literature. It is certain, however, that the animal was known 

 to the earlier writers ; its characters being clearly traceable in 

 some of the descriptions of the last century, long before the 

 period when Rafinesque and Gray respectively bestowed those 



