70 PROF. FLOWER ON ICTICYON VENATICUS. [Feb. 1 7, 



than in any other specimen I have examined, so much so that 

 portions of its irregular edge can be seen in a side view of the 

 cranium projecting into the deep notch formed between the nasals 

 and the maxillae. This gives a semi-tichoihiue appearance to the 

 skull, but is probably only a consequence of age. 



" The hair which remains upon the skin of the upper part of the 

 face is perfectly black. 



" The horns are extremely small, which indicates the probability of 

 the animal having been of the female sex. They also appear to have 

 undergone degeneration from age and wear, as it is extremely pro- 

 bable that in old or debilitated animals the formative process of the 

 corneous material becomes impaired, and does not keep pace with 

 the terminal decay and abrasion. The base of the anterior horn 

 measures 4 inches from before backwards and 2| transversely. Its 

 upper surface has a rugged honeycombed appearance, except in the 

 middle, from which a more solid process, of a subconical and slightly 

 recurved form, projects, but which only attains an elevation of 2^ 

 inches above the surface of the skin. The posterior horn is an ex- 

 tremely irregular, flattened, nearly circular nodule, averaging 1| 

 inch in diameter and scarcely 1 inch in elevation." 



The following papers were read : — 



1. On tiie Busli-Dog {Idicyon venaticus, Lund). 

 By William Henry Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., P.Z.S. 



[Received February 3, 1880.] 

 (Plate X.) 



The death, on the 1 2th of December last, of the Bush-Dog from 

 British Guiana, which was presented to the Society by Mr. Ernest 

 Tinne on the 20th of August, 1879, has enabled me to place on 

 record some notes on the anatomy of this somewhat aberrant 

 member of the canine family, the viscera of which have not hitherto 

 been examined. 



The first notice we have of this animal is by Lund, who described 

 it under the name of Cynogale venatica^. Afterwards a more full 

 description with osteological details and figures of the animal and 

 skull were given by the same author ; and the generic name first 

 imposed, having been already used by Gray for one of the 

 Viverridse, was changed to Icticyon^. An extinct species from 

 the Brazilian caves, Icticyon major, was also doubtfully referred to 

 the same genus. 



In the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' vol. xvii. p. 293 

 (1846), Dr. Gray, unaware of Lund's memoir, described a specimen 



' P. W. Lund, " Blik paa Brasiliens Dyreverden for sidste Jordomvseltning. 

 4''^ Afliandling," Kong. Danske Videnskab. Selskabs, nat. og math. Athand- 

 linger, ix. Deel (Kjobenhavn, 1842), p. 201. 



5 Ibid. 6"= Afhandling, XI. Deel (1845), p. 62, Taf. xli. &xliii. 



