438 HELICTIS AND 1CTONYX CHAP. 
hardly to be distinguished from each other. The ears are very 
minute. The tail is short. The muzzle is rather pointed, and 
the soles and palms are naked. 
Fig. 222.—Ratel. Mellivora capensis. xt. 
The structure of Helzctis has been described by the late 
Professor Garrod,’ as well as by Sir W. Flower in his general 
account of the Carnivorous skeleton. The animal, which is a 
native of Kast Asia, is sometimes gaily coloured. H. subaurantiaca, 
the species dissected and figured by Garrod, is a varied black and 
orange. The genus is arboreal, and the tail may be moderately 
long and bushy. The ears are small; the nose is grooved; the 
palms are naked, but the soles of the feet are hairy. There are 
fourteen dorsal vertebrae. The molar formula is Pm + M J. 
The Zorilla, Zctonyx, is the last of the Old-World genera of 
Melinae. It is African, ranging from the tropical parts of the 
continent to the Cape. “In colour and markings,” remarks Dr. 
Mivart, “as well as in the odour of the secretion of its anal 
glands, the one or two species which form this genus resemble 
the skunks; so much so that did they inhabit the same region, 
and were they devoid of an offensive secretion, they would 
certainly be said to mimic the skunks.” The molar formula of 
the genus is Pm MJ. There are fifteen dorsal vertebrae. The 
nose is grooved and the soles partly hairy. 
The American Badger, Taxidea, is a burrower of omnivorous 
tastes, and correlated with the former habit are the immense 
' Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879, p. 305. 
