XIII SECRETIONS OF SKUNKS 433 
fissures of rocks, or in holes dug by itself. It is a purely nocturnal 
beast. 
The singular genus J/ydaus, containing the species JZ meli- 
ceps, the Teledu or Javanese Skunk, is an inhabitant of Java and 
Sumatra. It frequents the mountains of these islands, into the 
soil of which it burrows im search of worms and larvae. There 
is but one species, which is “like a miniature badger, of rather 
eccentric colours.” It is blackish brown, with a yellowish-white 
top to its head, and a stripe of the same colour down the back. 
It may be distinguished by its elongated snout, obliquely trun- 
cated, and with inferiorly-placed nostrils. As to osteological 
characters, it has a more oblique symphysis of the mandible 
than in any other Carnivore. The secretion of the anal glands 
is said to rival that of the Skunk in offensiveness and in the 
distance to which it can be propelled. 
Sub-Fam. 2. Mustelinae.— Representatives occur in both the 
Old and New Worlds; but the genera and even the species are in 
one or two cases common to both. 
Galictis barbara, the Tayra, is a brown, elongated, al Weasel- 
Fic. 219.—Tayra. Galictis barbara. x+. 
like animal from Mexico and South America. As is the case with 
the Weasel, it is sometimes gregarious, a herd of twenty having 
been observed. The soles of the feet are naked, and the molar 
formula is Pm3 Mt. In these characters the Grison (4. vittata) 
agrees with @. hanbare ; but it has been referred to a different 
genus, Grisonia. 
The Grison, “this savage and diabolical-looking weasel,” as 
1 See Trans. Zool. Soc. ti. 1841, p. 201. 
VOL. X 2F 
