88 



JIUSTEI.ID.E - 



-.MAMJI.VLIA.- 



- <Ml:stelil),e. 



alligators, which in general were stnpidly tame. On 

 gOiiig into the room in the morning, I found the grison 

 at large, and one of the alligators dead, with a hole 

 eaten under the fore-leg, where the great nerves and 

 bloodvessels were torn through ; and the other alligator 

 began snapping furiously at every one who attempted 

 to approach it." The same eminent naturalist else- 

 where remarl-;s tliat this grison " was as tame and 



affectionate as a dog ; and she followed me," he adds, 

 " wherever I went about the house, was extremely 

 frolicsome and playful, and was delighted at being 

 caressed. She would throw herself on her back, and 

 seize the hand that fondled her with all four of her 

 paws and her mouth at the same moment, pressing it 

 with her teeth, but never sufliciently hard to cause the 

 slightest degree of pain. She was extremely fond of 



2,<!. 



The Grison (Galictis vittau) 



eggs, which she ate in a very singular manner. On 

 one being given her, she first played with it for some 

 time, running backwards and at the same time pushing 

 it under her belly with her fore-feet. At length she 

 would fix one of her sharp canine teeth through the 

 shell, and lick or suck as much of the contents as 

 would flow through the orifice. Then, again inserting 

 her tooth, a piece of the shell was broken out so as to 

 enable her to insert her tongue ; and, finally, the egg- 

 shell was broken to pieces and each fragment carefully 

 licked clean." The grison is an inhabitant of the 

 northern regions of Brazil, the specimens hitherto seen 

 in this country having been brought from Guiana and 

 Paraguay. A brief, but very accurate description of a 

 fine example captured by Mr. Edmonston at Demcrara, 

 is described by Dr. Traill in the third volume of the 

 Wernerian Society's Transactions. It measured nearly 

 three feet in length, including the tail which gave nine 

 inches. In the list of Mustelidfe preserved in the 

 British Museum, this species is denominated Grissonia 

 vittata. 



ALLAMAND'S GRISON {Galictis AUnmancli), ap- 

 pears to be a well-marked form. Mr. Bell has given a 

 beautiful figure of it, accompanied with another of th.e 

 above, in the second volume of the Transactions of the 

 Zoological Society. According to his description, 

 "this species, though evidently distinct from the former, 

 exhibits the same general character of colour and 

 marking, with some remarkable diflerences, however, 

 which, though not easily expressed in a specific phrase, 

 are tangible and important. The wliole of those parts 



which in the former species are yellowisn, are here per- 

 fectly white ; and those which are blackish-brown in 

 the former, are in this pure black. The basal portion 

 of the hairs on the back, therefore, is black, and tlie 

 apical quite white, forming a pure lilackish-grey or 

 black, with white points and lines, whilst all the under 

 parts of the throat and part of the belly are black. 

 The fascia extending from the forehead to the sides 

 of the neck is also white. This f;\scia does not extend 

 in the sjieciraen described so far back as in the former 

 species. The hairs of the whole body are very short 

 in comparison, and much stifi'er and more closely set. 

 The animal is considerably larger, and the tail, as far 

 as can be ascertained from a stufled specimen, short in 

 proportion." As in the foregoing, its habits correspond 

 with those of the weasels generally. 



THE ZOBILLA {Zorilla striata). — Several forms de- 

 scribed under the generic title of Zorilla, are probably' 

 merely varieties of one and the same species. Perhaps 

 two or three of them may fairly be regarded as distinct 

 Their dilferentiation obtains chiefly in respect of coloui 

 and other superficial characters, which, however, are 

 in too many instances the only distinctions the zoolo- 

 gist can rely on, as he may have none other to guide 

 him. The zorilla, known to the colonists at the Cape 

 of Good Hope by the name of muislioml, possesses 

 eighteen molar teeth, four being placed on either side 

 above, and five correspondingly opposed on each side 

 below. The prepared skeleton exhibits five vcrteljral 

 segments in the lumbar region of the spine, while there 

 are no less than fifteen pair of ribs. The fur is of a 



