706 CLASS XVIT. 



the bones of the fore-arm. The hyccnas eat all kinds of offal and exhume 

 corpses ; Aeistot. Hist. Anim. Lib. vi. c. 32, viii. c. 5. 



In caverns in the Hartz mountains, in Westphalia, in England (especi- 

 ally in the cave of Kirkdale in Yorkshire) fossil bones of a large species 

 have been found, which has the most resemblance in the teeth to Hymna 

 crocuta: Hycena spelcea Goldfuss ; see Cuvier Ann. du Mus. xi. pp. 127 



144, PI. 42, and ^ecA. sur les Osseni. foss., Goldfuss iVov. Act. Acad. 



Cces. Nat. Curios, xi. pp. 456—462, Tab. 56, Owen Srit. foss. Mamm. 

 pp. 138 — 160. 



^5-5 



Proteles IsiD. Geoffe. Molar teeth small, distant (p-^v or 



frequently only ~ j . Fore feet pentadactyloiis, with pollex 



raised, posterior tetradactylous, shorter. Back declining from the 



shoulders backwards. Tail very short, villous. 



Sp. Proteles Lalandii IsiD. Geoffr., Viverra hycenoides Desmar., Guerin 

 Iconogr., Mamm. PI. 17, fig. 4, Cuv. B. Ani., id. ill., Mamm. PI. 40, 

 fig. 3 ; an animal from South Africa, of the bearing of a small striped 

 hycena ; it lives in holes, which it digs, like the fox. The molar teeth 

 differ much from those of the other carnivores ; this difference was formerly- 

 ascribed incorrectly to the supposed fact, that the skull under observation 

 belonged to a specimen not full grown. Compare on this remarkable 

 animal IsiD. Geoffr. Saint-Hilaire Mem. du Mus. xi. 1824, pp. 354 — 

 371, PI. 20, Ann. des Sc. nat., Seconde S6rie, viii. 1837, pp. 252 — 255 ; 

 GuER. Magas. de Zool. 1841, Mammif. PI. 31 ; Sundevall in Forhand- 

 lingar vid de ShandinavisTce Nat urf or shames tredje Mote, Stockholm, 1842, 

 pp. 643, 644, (translated in Oken's Isis, 1845, s. 436). There are 15 ribs 

 and 5 lumbar vertebrae ; the bony palate is very broad and the underjawlow, 



6 — Q 

 Viverra L. (excl. of some species). Molar teeth ^ — -, false 

 3—3 2—2 0—0 



molars -r — ^ ? tuberculate . Feet pentadactylous, with claws 



small, incurved, pollex small, raised. (Dental formula Owen, 

 . 3-3 1-1 4-4 2-2 



^•333'^'m'P-4^'^'232 = ^^') 



Comp. F. Cuvier Des Denis des Mamm. pp. 99 — 102, PI. 34. — There are 

 commonly 13 dorsal vertebrse and 7 lumbar vertebrae, the ordinary 

 number in many carnivores, in the cat-tribe for instance, and the dogs. 

 The trunk is elongated. 



Sp. Viverra Zibetha L., Buff. ix. PL 31, Schreber's Sdugih. Tab. 112, 

 Brandt und Ratzeb. Mediz. Zool. Tab. i. fig. i ; light brownish-grey with 

 brown spots ; the throat whitish, with oblique dark stripes ; tail shorter 

 than body, short-haired, with black and light-brown rings ; in the East 

 Indies. — Viverra civetta Schreb., Buff. 1. 1. PI. 34, Menag. du Mus. i. 

 pp. 218 — 234, Brandt u. Ratzeb. 1. 1. fig. 2, Guerin Iconogr., Mamm. 



