Zoological Socrety. 413 
next. In them we still see more or less clearly the indication of a 
pterygoid fossa, but there is never any trace whatever of the ali- 
sphenoid canal, nor of the foramen glenoideum. ‘The auditory bulla 
is always full and round, even in the largest species, in which how- 
ever, as may be expected, it is proportionally less in size: in some 
species slight traces may still be discerned of the separation noticed 
in the Viverre; the canalis caroticus is very minute: in this group 
the internal carotid artery itself is very small; the canal commences 
towards the posterior part of the auditory bulla, and never again 
‘appears at the outside, the foramen lacerum anterius being quite 
wanting. ‘The characters of the paroccipital process are precisely 
those of Viverra, but its extent is much less, and the mastoid is rather 
more developed; the foramen condyloideum is concealed, just as in 
the Civets. : 
In a brief communication published by Mr. Gray in the ‘ Annals 
and Magazine of Natural History,’ in which he describes a new genus 
of Dogs under the name Cynalicus, he very justly remarks, ‘the 
tubercular grinders are very variable in this tribe.” I will now en- 
deavour to point out some characters that can rather more safely be 
depended on. ‘The pterygoid appendages have usually a deeper pro- 
jection than in most other members of. the order, and though marked 
with ridges on the outer side, these are scarcely sufficiently extended 
‘to form a fossa: the ali-sphenoid canal is a constant characteristic 
of the tribe; to this I have seen no exceptions, and should consider 
‘such a non-development as we have seen occasionally to occur in 
some of the smaller and more delicately constructed Civets less 
likely to happen among the Dog-tribe. The foramen glenoideum 
is always present and of large size. ~The auditory bulla is rather 
similar to that of the Cats, but usually a little flatter and not divided, 
and, like that of the Cats, is a little excavated towards the hinder and 
inner part, to form a considerable foramen lacerum posterius, in 
which open not only the foramina for the jugular vein and the nervus 
vagus, but the commencement of the canalis caroticus, which is of 
considerable size, and takes a course precisely similar to that of the 
Bear. ‘The mastoid process is but moderately developed, but the 
paroccipital is very characteristic ; its anterior edge is applied to the 
auditory bulla, but instead of being at all spread out, the process is 
laterally compressed and very salient, both in the vertical and back- 
ward direction. The foramen condyloideum occupies a very ex- 
posed situation, being upon the middle of a flat ridge which extends 
between the basi-occipital and the paroccipital process. 
With the addition of the Phocide or Seal-tribe, the divisions which 
I have here attempted to characterize will correspond exactly to the 
six families proposed by Mr. Waterhouse in the paper before alluded 
to. It may however be very fairly questioned, whether a group whose 
members are so closely connected among themselves, and differ so 
little in essential characters, will justly admit of being divided into 
six sections, of so high a rank as the term ‘ family’ is usually under- 
stood to imply. Mr. Gray, on the other hand, makes use of only 
two families, the Felide and the Urside, including among the latter, 
