146 PROF, ST. -GEORGE MIVART ON THE ^LUROIDEA. [Feb. 7, 



with (for the period) a very full account of the structure of the 

 animal. The Civet and Zibet are well figured and described by 

 Daubenton in Buftbn's ' Histoire Naturelle,' vol. ix. pp. 299-342, 

 pis, 31 to 35. Anatomical notes on these animals are also given by 

 John Hunter, pp. 51-55 of vol. ii. of his ' Essays and Observations,' 

 collected and published by Professor Owen in 1861. A few notes 

 " On the Internal Viscera of Viverra melanurus " have also been pub- 

 lished by Hodgson in the ' Calcutta Journal of Natural History,' 

 vol. ii. (1842) p. 56. Recently an account of the anatomy of the 

 Civet, with one plate, has been published by Dr. J. Chatin in the 

 Ann. des Sc. Naturelles, (5th series) vol. xvii. (1873), plate xxiii., 

 wherein the heart and great vessels, the stomach and liver, and the 

 (secum are represented. Lastly, vve have in vol. xix. (1874) of the 

 same work a paper by the same author on the " glandes odorantes 

 des Mammileres," wherein the scent and anal glands of the Civet and 

 Zibet are described and figured (pis. i. and ii. figs. 1-13), and notes 

 are added concerning Viverra iangalunga. The external form of 

 the Civet and of the Zibet are given in F. Cuvier's Mamm. vol. ii. 

 The skeleton of the Civet is represented on plate iv. of De Blainville's 

 ' Osteographie' {Viverra), and the skull and dentition of the Civet 

 and Zibet on his plates viii. and xii. ; details of the axial and visceral 

 skeleton on plate ix. ; and the distal part of the Zibet's humerus on 

 pi. X. 



All the four species of Viverra agree in having a more or less 

 white throat with transverse, curved, black bands ; all have the tarsus 

 and metatarsus bairy beneath, as in the FelidcB ; all have the back 

 with more or less elongate hair ; and all are of large size, the head 

 and body being from about 76" to 92", and the tail from about 

 31" to 43". V. tanyalunga is the smallest species, and has been 

 confounded with V. megaspila ; but the distinctions between the 

 two species have been pointed out by Dr. Giiuther in the Proc. Zool. 

 Soc. 1876 (pp. 427, 428), wherein is a good representation of V. 

 megaspila in both the adult and young condition. The young in 

 this genus seem to be always darker than the adults. The young 

 Civet (judging from a skin in the British Museum) is almost black, 

 with a black tail (whitish beneath its root), and with a greyish 

 mottling on the flanks and outside the thighs, greyish belly, and 

 with white marks on the cheeks, upper lip, inside of ears, underside 

 of throat, and side of the neck' . I have not seen the skull of V. 

 megaspila ; but, assuming that it closely resembles those of the other 

 species, it may be said that in Viverra the auditory bulla is divided 

 by a distinct groove into a small anterior part and a much larger 

 and more inflated posterior portion. There is an internal septum (as 

 in Felis). There is a distinct alisphenoid canal. The paroccipital 

 process depends below the bulla, to which it is applied. The external 

 opening of the auditory meatus is large and rounded ; it is rather its 



' Hodgson, in the ' Calcutta Journal of Nat. HiBt.' vol. ii. (1842) p. 55, says 

 that the eyes of the young are open when less than a week old ; also that the 

 adults -wander about singly and eat small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, 

 and some roots. 



