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



The geuus Arctictis was instituted by Temminek, who gives it iu 

 the 'Tableau Methodique' (1827), p.. xxi, in the beginning of his 

 first volume of the ' Monographie,' in the second volume of which, 

 p. 305, is a full description, with a figure of the skeleton half the 

 size of nature, and one of the skull and dentition of the natural size. 

 De Blainville, in his ' Osteographie ' (Subursus), gives a figure of 

 the entire skeleton on pi. 4, of the skull and dentition on pi. 7, 

 with some details of the axial skeleton on pi. 8, of the appendicular 

 skeleton on pis. 9 & 10, with the adult and milk-dentition on pi. 11. 

 F. Cuvier has figured the dentition in the ' Dents des Mammiferes,' 

 pi. 3 bis. F. Cuvier also figured the animal (Mem. du Mus. vol. ix. 

 p. 44, t. 4) under the name Paradoxurus albifrons ; and another 

 figure of a semi-adult individual (under the name Binturong) in his 

 ' Mammiferes,' vol. ii. Valenciennes has also figured it (under the 

 name Ictides albifrons) in Ann. des Sc. Nat. vol. iv. p. 57, pi. 1. In 

 the ' Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' vol. xv. 1846, p. 192, 

 there is a short but interesting account of the animal. It is referred 

 to in S. Miiller's ' Zoog. Ind. Archipel,' p. 32. The anatomy of 

 this animal has been described by the late Prof. Garrod in P. Z. S. 

 1873, p. 196, with a further note (as to the occasional absence of 

 the caecum') in 1878, p. 142. 



The animal comes certainly from Borneo ; and some say, from 

 Java, Sumatra, and Malacca also. 



The ears are tufted, the tail long and, to a certain extent, pre- 

 hensile ; and the tarsus and metatarsus are both entirely naked. As 

 to the cranium, the bulla is formed on the type of that of Paradox- 

 urus, except that the two parts are completely ankylosed in the adult. 

 There is an alisphenoid canal, but no pterygoid fossa. The external 

 opening of the auditory meatus is small and oval. The postorbital 

 processes are very short and blunt (the malar hardly indicated) ; 

 and the cranium is not laterally constricted behind them. The 

 condyloid foramen is concealed. The cranial ridges are not largely 

 developed ; but the paroccipital process depends, and the mastoid is 

 rather marked. The carotid canal opens posteriorly at the middle 

 of the inner side of the auditory bulla, while anteriorly it notches 

 the alisphenoid. There is no foramen or fissure in the floor of the 

 auditory bulla's anterior chamber ; but there is a very deep pit (to 

 receive the cornu of the hyoid) on the side of the bulla just behind 

 the external auditory opening. The palate is greatly prolonged behind 

 the hindmost molars. The angle of the mandible is very small. The 

 zygomatic arches present a rather concave instead of a convex out- 

 line medianly when viewed from above or below. The premolars 

 and molars are small and separated one from another by small but 

 marked intervals. The number of teeth varies slightly, as either 

 -^ or -^— may be wanting, and (according to Raffles) there may be 



six teeth in the lower jaw ; i. e. p-j is probably present sometimeSj 



^ That there is much yariation as to this part is shown by the record, in 

 vol. XV. p. 193 of the ' Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' that the cseciim 

 is half an inch long. 



