amon<jsl Insectivorous and Carnivorous Mainmah-. 757 



glands which in civets ami frenets are loilgcd bt-twcen the 

 scrotum ami tiie j)eiiis in the male, ami in the perineal region 

 in the feniah\ There is no evidence that tlii.s scent is 

 nauseous to larger carnivora; but if not it is singular that 

 the rasse should so persistently advertise its presence, at 

 all events in captivity, by its odour, my experience being 

 that it smells at all times and not specially under the 

 stimulus of fear. Nevertheless the rasse is procryptically 

 coloured ; and on the evidence available cannot be claimed 

 as a j)rotccted self-advertiser. The possibility of its being 

 distasteful must not, however, be forgotten. 



Palm-civets of the genera Parado.rurus and Pof/uma also 

 liave great powers of scenting a house, yet they appear for 

 the most jiart to be procryptically coloured. It is perhaps, 

 however, significant that the common Indian S[»ecies {Para- 

 (J(Xurus niger) is addicted to albinism, as recorded by 

 r)huiford; and more than one example with a considerable 

 quantity of white on the body has come under my notice. 

 Moreover, Lt.-Col. Cunningham, in the work already cited 

 (p. 277), speaks of them as being "wonderfully fearless 

 animals," and adds that *' their eyes are strangely luminous 

 in dim light, much more so than those of almost any other 

 animal, save death';;-head moths. ■'■' Since these palm-civets; 

 are nocturnal animals, the possibility of the luminosity of the 

 eyes acting as an advertisement of unpalatability is worth 

 bearing in mind. 



Finally, there is one species of this group, the so-called 

 masked palm-civet (Pagiwia larvafa) ot Southern China, 

 which is very singularly coloured. The whole body is 

 greyish yellow, but the head and neck are jet-black, with a 

 snow-white median stripe running from the nape to the nose, 

 a large white ])atch in front of each ear, and a smaller spot 

 above and below each eye. This contrast between jet-black 

 and snow-white on the head is so forcibly reminiscent of what 

 may be seen on this region in badgers and on the back in 

 zorillas and skuiiks as to suggest identity of use. Masked 

 palm-civets also resemble badgers in being nocturnal and 

 omnivorous in diet. Kevertheless, I have no direct evidence 

 that they are in any way noxious, although they possess 

 both anal and perineal glands ; but such evidence is difficult 

 to obtain in specimens like those I have observed alive, 

 which were tame, either from being born in the Zoolo- 

 gical Gardens or from having been long in captivity before 

 importation. 



