554 DR. J. E. GRAY ON THE VIVERRIDZ&. [ Noy. 8, 
16. HERPESTES PERSICUS. B.M. 
Pale ashy, very closely and abundantly black-and-white punctu- 
lated; hair short and soft, with black ends and a broad white band 
near the tip; the chin and underside uniform ashy ; tail conical, 
tapering, coloured like the back ; feet like the back, but with shorter 
hair. 
Hab. Persia: Rhugistan and Mohammerah, date-groves (Kennet, 
Loftus, 1853). 
Skulls (adult) rather elongate; nose short; forehead very broad, 
convex; the orbits complete; lower jaw moderately strong, chin 
shelving. Teeth 40, normal; the third false grinder subtriangular, 
with small, central, prominent lobe; the flesh-tooth elongate, sub- 
trigonal, the outer side considerably longer than the front one, the 
inner tubercle small, on the front edge; the front tubercular trian- 
gular, transverse, with a very sloping outer edge. Length of skull 
2" 6!", of nose 74; width of under palate behind 93'", of brain-case 
10", of zygomatic arch 1" 3!" 
Somewhat like Calogale nyula, but much paler and more uniform 
in dotting ; the head shorter and broader, and the tail conical, taper- 
ing, thicker at the base. 
17. HeRPESTES FUSCUS. B.M. 
Black brown, white-dotted ; hair very long and harsh ; ends black, 
with a narrow pale band very near the tip ; throat and belly reddish 
brown ; tail bushy, like the back. 
Herpestes fuscus, Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 55; Gerrard, 
Cat. Ost. B. M. 74; Schinz, Syn. Mamm. i. 372. 
Hab. India (Waterhouse) ; Madras (Jerdon, 1846). 
Mr. Waterhouse’s type is in the B. M.: length of body and head 
10 inches, tail 17 inches. The one from Madras is smaller. 
The skull is intermediate in form between that of H. ichneumon 
and that of H. paludosus; the brain-case is nearly of the same ex- 
ternal form as the latter, but not quite so ventricose ; the orbit is small 
and rather incomplete behind; the zygomatic arch is rather convex, 
but, as in H. ichneumon, the convexity is more on the hinder end, 
while it is regularly bowed out in H. paludosus. The teeth of the 
upper jaw are very like those of H. ichneumon ; but the outer edge 
of the front tubercular is not- so oblique, and the hinder tubercular 
is even smaller; they are very much slenderer and less bulky than 
the teeth of H. paludosus. Lower jaw very shelving in front ; lower 
edge arched, narrow behind ; false grinders 4—4 ; tubercular oblong, 
elongate, rather small, crown four-lobed, one lobe at each end and 
two in the middle portion. 
The length of the skull 3} inches ; the width of the brain-case 
12 inch, of the zygomatic arches 144 inch. 
18. HERPESTES JAVANICUS. B.M. 
Dark black brown, very minutely punctured with yellow; head 
redder ; tail conical ; claws short, conical. 
