Page 305. 
Page 305. 
474 ON THE ANATOMY OF HELICTIS. 
anterior margin, The corpora quadrigemina are large, especially in 
front. ‘ 
The cerebellum is just overlapped at its anterior border by the 
back of the cerebral hemispheres; otherwise it is quite posterior. 
The several lemurine resemblances of Tupaia make the simplicity 
of the cerebral surface somewhat surprising. 
80. NOTES ON THE ANATOMY OF HELICTIS SUB- 
AURANTIACA* 
(Plate XXX.) 
A sprcimEN of Helictis subaurantiaca, from China, purchased by the 
Society on Nov. 26, 1874,+ having died on Nov. 29, 1878, I take the 
present opportunity of recording some of the most important facts 
in its visceral anatomy, more on account of the rarity of the animal 
in this country, than because it presents peculiarities of any kind. 
It may first be noticed that the skins of this species collected by 
Mr. Swinhoe, and now in the national collection, seem to have faded 
much in their underparts, which, quite in opposition to that naturalist’s 
original account of his species, are a pure white. It may further be 
mentioned that Helictis is extremely Badger-like in its proportions, 
gait, and odour. 
On comparing the skull of the Society’s specimen with the small 
collection of skulls of the genus in the national collection, I found no 
small difficulty in detecting any intimate resemblance to any. In 
most of its measurements it agrees exactly with those of H. moschata, 
as recorded by Dr. Gray.t 
In the Society’s specimen the skull retained no trace of any sutures, 
and the lower jaw was considerably diseased, apparently in association 
with decay of the teeth. I hardly think, however, that extreme old 
age will account for the peculiarities of the individual under consider- 
ation. It differs from other specimens of H. moschata and H. subau- 
rantiaca, and much more resembles H. nipalensis and H. orientalis, in 
that its zygoma is massive, the premaxillary region short as well as 
comparatively broad, and the mid-parietal area between the upper 
margins of the temporal muscular origins decidedly broad. The pre- 
* “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1879, pp. 305-7. Pl. XXIX. Read, 
March 18, 1879. 
+ Vide “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1874, p. 666. 
t Catalogue of Carnivorous, Pachydermatous, and Edentate Mammalia in the 
British Museum, 1869, p. 143. 
