42 



of the side, Mrhich slopes upwar<i8 over the hatmches to the middle 

 line of the back. Behind this point, the white passing backwards 

 along the middle line becomes more and more blended vnth. black, 

 until the colour of the upper surface of the tail is entirely black. 



The ears, ■vvhich are longer than the head, are closely covered ^ith 

 short adpressed hairs. These are in front mixed black and yellow, 

 giving a grizzled appearance ; on the hinder part they are entirely 

 ochraceous for about two thirds of the length of the ear, the termine 

 third, as well as the tip and the hipder fringe, being ■wliite, and fur- 

 nished with much longer hairs. The long hairs fringing the anterior 

 edge are ochraceous, excepting for a short distance immediately belovr 

 the tip, along -vybich space they are black. 



Mr. Bennett concluded by calling the attention of the Society to 

 two skins forming part of the šame coUection, which, notwithstanding 

 their marked difFerence in fur and colour from an arctic specimen o£ 

 the Meles Labradoria, Sabine, he felt disposed to consider as referrible 

 to that species. The general form is the šame; the colour of the 

 legs similar ; and the light markings on a dark ground on the head 

 and face correspond precisely ; the ground colour being, however, 

 much darker, of a blackish brown, and grizzled with white on the 

 hinder part of the head. The middle \vhite line shows itself indi- 

 stinctly in two or three places along the back, where the hairs are 

 long, silky, and soft, but -vv'ithout any intermixture or woolly appear- 

 ance. To\vards their base they are sUghtly crisped ; their colour is 

 here tawny ; it then becomes black ; and tlie tips are white. Hence 

 results a grizzled white and black with only an occasional tinge of 

 tawny on the back ; a somewhat undulated appearance of ■nhite and 

 black, vilh a considerable mixture of tawny, on the sides, where the 

 white strongly predominates ; the black then disappears altogether, 

 the sides of the belly being tawny and its middle white. The ta%VTiy 

 colour extends across the chest ; but the throat and cliin are pure 

 "white. The tail is tawny on both surfaces. and becomes much darker 

 at the tip. From this description it will be seen that the animal ac- 

 cords sufficiently with the Tlacoyotl of Hemandez. The difference 

 in the adpressed and firmer character of its fur from the lax and 

 almost wooUy nature of the fur of the arctic Badger, may be accounted 

 for by its being less exposed to cold, and consequently not reąuiring 

 the additional protection of a much \varmer covering ; in the arctic 

 specimen, too, it is probable that the pale grey coloiu-, scarcely varied 

 except about the head, is merely a result of that general law ■vvhich 

 gives to animals of snowy countries a -vvhite uinter fur. 



A specimen was exhibited of a species of Sepiola from the Mauritius, 

 which had been presented to the Society by Charles Telfair, Esq., 

 Corr. Memb. Z. S., and Dr. Grant explained its distinctive charac- 

 ters by comparison with a specimen of the Sepiola vulgaris of the 

 Mediterranean, exhibited for that purpose. He showed that ■vvhile 

 the body of the Eastem species is four times the size of that of the 

 European, its arms do not exceed in length those of thelatter species. 

 On account of this comparative shortness of its members he proposed 



