32 MR. W..OGILBY’S DESCRIPTION OF CYNICTIS, 
two tubercles, separated from one another by a transverse depression : in other respects 
it resembles the superior tuberculous teeth. 
In their reciprocal position the crowns are not directly opposed to one another, as in 
herbivorous animals ; but those of the lower jaw pass on both sides within those of the 
upper, the tubercles of the one corresponding regularly to the depressions of the other, 
and thus forming an admirable instrument for cutting, which acts precisely upon the 
principle of a pair of scissors. The incisor and tuberculous teeth alone have their 
crowns in contact with one another, and for this purpose the latter teeth are situated 
considerably within the line of the other molars. The last tuberculous tooth of the 
upper jaw fits into the depression of its lower analogue, and the first, as has been 
already observed, into the depression which separates the tuberculous heel of the lower 
carnassier from the anterior lobes. The skull from which this description was taken 
being that of a very old animal, the sharp trenchant edges of the teeth were completely 
worn away, leaving the lobes universally of a blunt, tuberculous form, and often ren- 
dering it a matter of some difficulty to trace their original characters. 
This system of dentition is, in most respects, extremely similar to that which is 
common to the Viverre in general, and particularly to the genus Herpestes, from which 
the Cynictis differs principally in the absence of the rudimentary false molar of the 
lower jaw, in having that of the upper jaw in contact with the canine, and in a few 
other circumstances of very minor importance when compared with the general cha- 
racters of the organization. From the Ryzena or Suricate, on the other hand, the 
dental system of the Cynictis differs in the presence of the superior rudimentary false 
molar, being thus directly intermediate, in point of dentition, between this genus and 
the Herpestes ; and it is not a little singular that it should bear precisely the same re- 
lation to both these genera in the form and number of its toes. The Herpestes have 
rudimentary false molars both in the upper and under jaws, and five toes both before 
and behind ; the Cynictis has rudimentary false molars only in the upper jaw, five toes 
on the fore, and only four on the hind feet ; the Ryzena has no rudimentary false molars 
in either jaw, and four toes only, as well on the anterior as on the posterior extremities. 
These traits of zoological character strongly point out the true natural relations of all 
these animals, and demonstrate the relative positions which they occupy in the system 
of nature. With the single exception of the Proteles, there is no other known genus 
of the Viverra family which possesses the same number of toes and complete digitigrade 
extremities which form so prominent a character in the Cynictis. Here, however, alk 
analogy ceases between these two genera. It is true that we are at present ignorant of 
the adult characters of the dentition of the Proteles ; when we become better acquainted 
with this important part of its organization, we may perhaps discover additional points 
of relation between it and the present genus ; but in all its most striking external cha- 
racters it is completely different, and seems to occupy an intermediate station between 
the Dogs, the Civets, and the Hyenas. 
