47 8 CARNIVORES. 



an Egyptian beauty, to enhance the size and brilliancy of the orbs. A curious kind 

 of seam, starting from the middle of his chin and running underneath him along 

 the whole length of his body, gives him somewhat the appearance of a stuffed 

 animal which has not been very carefully sewn up. His bright, pretty little face 

 is capable of assuming the greatest variety of expressions, that which it most 

 frequently wears when in repose being a contented, self-satisfied smirk ; impudence 

 and independence displaying themselves at every line of his plump little figure. 



He is absolutely without fear, and with consummate coolness and audacity 

 will walk up to the largest and most forbidding-looking dog, although a perfect 

 stranger to him, and, carefully investigating the stranger on all sides with great 

 curiosity, express disgust and defiance in a succession of little short sharp barks." 



Meerkats seem to have, indeed, a remarkable affection for dogs, and, when 

 tamed, will follow these animals for long distances, trotting contentedly along in 

 their wake in the same manner as a dog follows his master. Like most of the 

 civet tribe, when tamed, the meerkat is an inveterate thief. 



THE MADAGASCAR MUNGOOSES. 

 Genera Galidictis, Eupleres, etc. 



It will be convenient to allude, under the name of mungooses, to certain very 

 curious members of the civet tribe which inhabit the Island of Madagascar. These 

 are arranged under four distinct genera, of which the first three are nearly allied 

 to one another, and are also related to the African mungooses, while the fourth is 

 very different from both, and is indeed an altogether aberrant modification of the 

 family. Most of these creatures have no recognised English titles, so that we are 

 compelled to mention them under their scientific names. 



The munguste (Galidictis striata) is one of two nearly-allied species charac- 

 terised by having the ground-colour of the fur of a light tint, marked by longitudinal 

 dark stripes on the body ; this peculiar coloration being alone quite sufficient to dis- 

 tinguish these animals from all their allies. The munguste measures about 12 J 

 inches in length, exclusive of the tail ; the latter being rather shorter than the 

 head and body. The tail is bushy in both species, and the claws are longer than 

 in the true mungooses. In the munguste the snout is rather short, but it is more 

 elongated in the other species (G. vittata). 



The galidia (Galidia elegans), which is the only representative of its genus, 

 differs from the munguste in having the fur of the body uniformly coloured ; but 

 the tail is ringed with black bands, the individual hairs being of one colour 

 throughout their length. The hemigalidia (Hemigalidia olivacea) differs from it 

 by the tail being of the same uniform coloration as the head and body, and also in 

 its more pointed muzzle, and the smaller curvature of the claws. 



The most remarkable of these four types of Madagascar Carnivores is, however, 

 the Eupleres goudoti ; its most peculiar characteristic being the very small size of 

 the teeth and the weakness of the jaws. The teeth, of which the number is the 

 same as in the civets (forty) are, indeed, much more like those of an Insectivore than 

 of a Carnivore, most of them being separated from one another by spaces; the tusks, 



