22 MR. W. H. FLOWER ON THE [Jan. 14, 
each other in other parts of their organization, especially in those 
which were made use of in defining the Arctoidea. They all havea 
short simple ceecum. They all have a comparatively small penis, 
with a more or less conical termination, and of which the bone is 
small, irregular in shape, or not unfrequently altogether wanting. 
They all possess Cowper’s glands, and a distinct lobed prostate. 
The Felide and Viverride may therefore be united into another 
primary group, for which I would propose the name LUROIDEA. 
The two families have been chiefly distinguished by the well-known 
differences in their dentition ; but they also show characteristic cra- 
nial distinctions. In the Felid@ the auditory bulla is more globular, 
and the inner chamber is placed really to the inner side, as well as 
somewhat posterior to the tympanic. The carotid canal is repre- 
sented by a very minute groove placed far back on the inner side of 
the bulla, often quite concealed in the foramen lacerum posticum. 
There is no alisphenoid canal. 
In the Viverride the bulla is more elongated, and the inner cham- 
ber is placed more posteriorly, usually entirely behind the tympanic. 
The distinction between the two parts of the bulla is better marked 
externally. The carotid canal is larger and placed more conspicu- 
ously and nearer the anterior part-of the bulla. The alisphenoid 
canal is almost always present. 
Cryptoprocta is a member of the Mluroid group, which, as long 
as it was known only by a single immature individual, was placed 
among the Viverride. The recent examination of a complete ske- 
leton of an adult animal has led MM. A. Milne-Edwards and Gran- 
didier to remove it completely from that group, and to ally it closely 
to the Cats—not indeed in the same family; for they form a tribe 
containing Felis and Cryptoprocta alone, each genus constituting a 
family by itself, the first digitigrade, the second plantigrade. The 
teeth are certainly more Feline than Viverrine, and so is the general 
appearance of the upper surface of the skull; but I cannot alto- 
gether agree in the remarks that “la conformation de la téte osseuse 
du Cryptoprocta rappelle le type félin, plus que le type viverrien,”’ 
and “en effet, sil y avait 4 chaque machoire une prémolaire de 
moins, son crane ne différerait en rien de celui des Chats ”’ *. 
On examining the base of the cranium of the adult Cryptoprocta 
lately received at the British Museum (fig. 10, p. 23), I find that it 
possesses all the characters above shown to be common to the Felide 
and Viverride, but that it has a distinet alisphenoid canal (a a’), a 
distinct carotid foramen (car) near the front part of the inner side of 
the bulla, and the bulla itself constructed more on the viverrine than 
the feline type. The inner chamber is quite behind the other ; it is 
flattened at the sides, ridged and very prominent posteriorly, and low 
in front. The paroccipital process does not extend beyond the bulla. 
As the dentition and the general osteological characters pointed 
out by the authors just quoted+ forbid us to place it among the V7- 
* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 1867. 
+ The form of the scapula of the specimen at the British Museum appears to 
me decidedly more viverrine than feline. 
