63 



was got at so readily as to induce the keeper to destroy her, notvritii- 

 standing his wishes firsl to destroy her mate. 



Specimens and drawings of numerous animals referable to the 

 genus ParadoTurus were laid upon the table j and Mr. Gray entered 

 into a detailed accountof the distinguishing characters of the group, 

 which he prefaced by some observations on the fatnily of Fiverridce in 

 general, and concluded by the description of several new species. He 

 observed that the family may be divided, independently of the cha- 

 racters furnished by the teeth, into three sections, distinguished by the 

 baldness or hairiness of the soles of their hinder feet, and by concur- 

 rent diflTerences in the structure of their odorous glands, The first 

 of these is limited to the true Civets, the genus Viverra, in which the 

 under part of the hind-feet is entirely covered vvith hair, except on the 

 tips of the toes and the large tubercles at their base ; and the pouch 

 secreting the civet forms a deep cavity on each side near the anus. 

 The species of this group are : 1, the African Civet, Viverra Civetta, 

 L. ;— 2,theZž6Ė<of Buffon, Hist. Nat. tom. ix. t. 34, Viv. Zibetha.h., 

 which is the Viv. undulata, Gray, Spic. Zool. p. 9, t. 8 ; — 3, the spotted 

 Civet, Viv. Tangalungn, Gray, which is the Viv. Zibetha of M. F. 

 Cuvier, Dr. Horsfield, and Sir Stamford RafBes, and is readily distin- 

 guished from the last-mentioned species by a continuous longitudinal 

 band occupying the upper surface of the tail, the numerous irregular 

 rings being separated only on its inferior half; — i, the Gunda Civet, 

 Viv. Kasse, Horsf., Viv. Gunda, Ham. MSS., vvhich Dr. Horsfield be- 

 lieves to be distinct from Viv. Indica, GeofFr. ; — 5, the pale Civet, Viv. 

 pallida, Gray;— and 6, the Delundung, Viv. Linsang, Hard\v., Felis 

 gracilis, Horsf. Of these the lašt three have the slender form of the 

 Gennets ; and one, the lašt, has been forined into a separate genus by 

 Dr. Horsfield ; the teeth however, according to the figure of that na- 

 turalist, agree exactly vvith those oi the Civets, e.xcept in the deficiency 

 of the lašt upper molar. 



The second section is likevvise limited to a single genus, Genetta, 

 in which the soles of the hinder feet have a narrow bald line estending 

 from the heel and bifurcating, so as to inclose a small triangular hairy 

 pad near the toes, the basai tubercle of vvhich, and the tips of the 

 toes themselves, are bald. In this section also the anai pouches esist, 

 and the animals belonging to it, as well as to the former, when in con- 

 finement, frequently retrovert their tails, in order to press out, by rub- 

 bing against any hard substance within their reach, the odorous secre- 

 tion contained in the pouches. The species are: 1 ,theFossa»e, Viv. Fossa, 

 Erxl. ; — -2, the Senegal Gennet, Viv. Senegalensis, Fisch., from M. F, 

 Ciivier's ' Mammif^res Lithographičs';— 3, the feline Gennet, Viv.fe'^: 

 tina, Thunb., vvhich has certainly no affinity with the Civette de Ma. 

 lacca of Sonnerat, doubtfully referred to it by M. Fischer ; — and4, the 

 common Gennet, Viv. Genetta, L. 



In the third section, vvhich includes two very distinct subdivisions, 

 the entire sole is bald from the toes to the heel. One of the subdi- 

 visions has long, slender, and nearly free toes; anai pouches of greater 

 or less depth ; and hair of a peculiarly harsh character and grizzled 



