478 CARXIVORES. 



an Egy|)tian beauty, to enhance the size and brilliancj- of the orbs. A curious kina 

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

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

 animal which has not been verj' 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 displaj'ing 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 witli great 

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



Meerkats seem to have, indeed, a remarkable afiection 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 liis master. Like most of the 

 civ'et tribe, when tamed, the meerkat is an inveterate thief. 



The Madagascar Muxgooses. 

 Genera Galidictis, Eupleres, etc. 



It will be convenient to allude, under tlie name of munofooses, to certain very 

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

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

 to one anotlier, 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 i-ecognised English titles, so that we are 

 compelled to mention them under their scientific names. 



The munguste (GaUdictia 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 bod}'^ ; this peculiar coloi-ation being alone quite sufficient to dis- 

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

 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. rittata). 



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

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

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

 throughout their length. The hemigalidia (HemigaUdia 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 lusectivore than 

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



