64 MK. o. THOMAS ON THK [Jan. 3, 



uniform. Dr. Anderson, in the work quoted above, has fully de- 

 scribed and figured the skulls and dentition of the Indian forms ; and 

 the African ones are very similai', if we except U. (Ichneumia) alhi- 

 caada, which has, of course, as forming a distinct subgenus, many 

 characters peculiar to itself. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



A. Tarsus nearly or quite naked below. Upper 

 M" 40-60 per cent, of P.M'. Last lower molar 

 small, with onlj- 2 external cusps. (Subgenus 



HEIiPESTES.) 



I. Tip of tail with a dark-coloured pencil. 



a. Tail-tip black. 



a. Size large : head and body 20 in. or more. 



a'. Skullhalfasbroadaslong. Palivarctic 1. H. ic/inci'.nion, p. 64. 



b'. Skull le.ss than half as broad as long. 



Ethiopian 2. H. caffcr, p. G(>. 



/3. Size small : head and body 12-14 in. ... o H. gracilis, p. 68. 



b. Tail-tip red. 



y. Size small : head and body about 12 in. ... 4. H. sanguineus, p. 71. 



II. Tip of tail not darker. 



c. Dark rufous. Size large : head and body 20- 



26 in 5. H.galcra,-^. 72. 



d. Dark grizzled grey. Size medium : head and 



body 14-15 in 6. H. pnlverulentus, ■[>. 74. 



e. Light grizzled grey. Size small ; head and 



body 10-13 in 7. H. imnctatissimus, ■^. 74. 



B. Tarsus hairy beneath. Upper M" more than 70 

 per cent, of P.M'. Last lower molar large, with 

 y external cusps. (Subgenus Icuneumia). 



I. Tail very bushy. Size large, 22-26 in 8. H. aU)icaiida,\>. 75, 



1. Herpestes ichneumon. 



Viverra ichnevnion, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 63 (1766). 



Ichneumon pharaon, Lac6p. Mem. de I'lnst. iii. p. 402 (1801). 



Ichneumon ceyypti, Tiedem. Zool. i. p. 364 (1808). 



Herpestes j)haraoms, Geoff. Descr. de I'Euypte, H. N. ii. p. 139 

 (1812). 



H. numidicus, F. Cuv. Hist. Nat. Mamm. iv. livr. 68 (1834). 

 * H. widdringtoni, Gray, Ann. & Mag. N. H. ix. p. 50 (1842). 



H. dorscdis, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 549 (ex Smith, S. x\fr. Quart. 

 Journ. ii. p. 113, 1835) (1864). 



Hab. Southern Spain, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Africa north of 

 the Sahara. 



Size large, about 20 inches ; form slender ; tail about 4 to 5 inches 

 shorter than the head and body. Fur long, especially on the rump 

 and basal quarter of the tail, where the longer hairs are often 4 or 

 more inches in length. General colour dark grizzled grey-browu, 

 the hairs annulated with dark red-brown and creamy yellow, the tips 

 of the back hairs darker yellow. Underfur thick and woolly, bright 

 rufous in colour. Tip of tail shining black, the hairs elongated so 

 as to form a distinct tassel, sometimes reaching 5 inches beyond the 

 vertebrse. Feet dark brown. Underside of hind feet generally quite 

 naked, the part under the calcaneum sometimes, though rarely, hairy. 



