76 MR. O. THOMAS ON THE [Jail. 3, 



the body without the head. Underside of tarsus thickly hairy down 

 to the root of the hallux. Fur of medium length. General colour 

 blackish grey, the longer hairs ringed with black and white, the ter- 

 minal third nearly always black. Uuderfur woolly, uniform dirty grey. 

 Feet black. Tail -hairs very long, in some cases with white bases and 

 long shining black tips, so that the whole tail appears to be black ; 

 in others with a long white tip beyond the black, so that then the 

 tail appears to be white ; in the latter case the hairs at the extreme 

 tip of the tail are generally wholly white. 



Fig. 1. 





a, b. Last lower molars of Herpesfcs ichneumon, 

 c, d. „ „ H. albicaiida. 



a, c. Upper view ; h, d, side view. 



Skull rather stout and heavy, the muscular ridges, however, but 

 little developed. Brain-case comparatively short, not half the length 

 of the whole skull. Teeth more rounded than in the members of 

 the typical subgenus. Last molars, above and below, proportionally 

 much lar2;er than in Herpestes, the lower one with a well-marked 

 extra external cusp between the two usual ones, so that there are five 

 cusps in all (see woodcut. Fig 1 , c, d.) . In old specimens, of course, 

 this character cannot be made out, as the cusps are worn off these 

 teeth at a comparatively early age. Dental percentage 71-84. 



Dimensions. 



Head 

 and body. Tail. Hind foot. 



a. Type, Nubia(Berl.Mus.) 26-0 1.5-8 4-9 



b. Natal 24-0 l.vO .vO 



•c. Caffraria(Leyd. Mus.). . 24-5 15-8 4-85 



e. W. Africa (type of H. 



loempo, Leyd, Mus.). . . . 23'0 15'8 4'5 



Skulls. Inc. to Basi- 



Palate- Palate- cross cranial 



Length. Breadth, length. breadth. line. axis. 



«. Accra 4-28 2-16 2-G 1-3 I'.i 



6. W. Africa (Berl. 



Mus.) 4-05 2-0 2-41 1-25 1-41 — 



c. Abyssinia 3'75 1-88 2-05 Ml 1-35 MS 



(/. E. Africa c. 380 2-07 2-23 1-2 1-37 — 



