96 CATALOGUE. 



rough, straggling, diverging, and very copious. The feet, strictly 

 plantigrade; the toes, five on each foot, provided with short, half 

 retractile, compressed, and strongly curved claws. 



Teeth : incisive, -J ; canine, ^- - 1 ; grinders, J- - |. 



The canines, in both jaws, are stout : those in the upper jaw, very 

 long, compressed at the base, with a longitudinal groove in the exterior 

 face. 



The genus Arctictis is arranged by Mr. Gray, in his " Systematic 

 List of the Genera of Mammalia, Catal. Mamm. Br. Mus. XX.," among 

 the Necrophaga viverrina, near Paradoxurus, \vhich genus it resembles 

 in its osseous structure ; it deviates, however, from the type of viverrina 

 in the more strictly plantigrade character of the feet, in the partially 

 prehensile tail, and in other points of structure in which it approaches 

 Ailurus and Cercoleptes of the Ursina. Its final situation, in a natural 

 arrangement, depends on further comparisons and discoveries. One 

 species only is at present clearly defined ; the Arctictes binturong of 

 Fischer, or the Ictides ater of Fred. Cuv. : the Arctictis (Ictides) 

 albifrons of Valanc., according to M. Temminck, is the female 

 binturong, and the Ictides aureus of Fred. Cuv. is, according to 

 Mr. Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. X. 919, "a veritable Paradoxurus." 



The specimen in the Company's Museum, which is an adult, measures 

 from the nose to the root of the tail, two feet nine inches ; the tail is 

 two feet three inches long. The general colour throughout is of the 

 deepest black, with the exception of a whitish border to the ears and a 

 few brown hairs scattered on the head above, and the anterior face of 

 the fore legs. The hairy covering generally is long, rigid, and diverging, 

 giving the animal a rough appearance ; the tail is monstrously thick at 

 the base, tapering to a point, with bristly, straggling hairs, exceeding 

 those of the body in length. 



The Binturong is a nocturnal animal, living solitary and concealed in 

 the most secluded forests and mountains. It is by no means common. 

 M. Temminck states, " That the Dutch naturalists found it only about 

 ten or twelve times in Java, and only once in Sumatra. The indi- 

 viduals were observed during the day on trees, slowly creeping along 

 large branches, and aiding themselves in their progress by the prehensile 

 tail. Their gait is very slow and lingering, with measured steps. If 

 not in search of food during the day, they lie in a torpid state, between 

 the forks of branches, the body rolled up as a ball, surrounded by the 

 tail and covered with thick foliage. If suddenly surprised, Dr. Miiller 

 informs us, they were restless and anxious, more inclined to creep away 

 than to save themselves with courage and energy." Their howl, 



