46 



edge of this character led Thunberg to place it among the Ursidce 

 under the name of Ursus Brasiliensis, to which group it slightly ap- 

 proximates, and in which it may probably be represented by the 

 genus Ratellus. By Desmarest it is arranged in the genus Gulo, and 

 the name Gulo vittatus given to it by that author has been adopted 

 by the Cuviers, and all other subsequent writers, with the exception 

 of Dr. Traill, who in the third volume of the Memoirs of the Werner- 

 ian Society restores it to its proper family, the Mustelide, but under 

 the erroneous name of Lutra vittata, for it has no nearer affinity to 

 the Otters than any other genus of that family. By Schreber it 

 was placed among the Viverrte, under the name of Viverra vittata, 

 and the name has been retained by Gmelin and others. 



The characters of Galictis, and the description of the two species 

 which at present constitute this genus, are as follows. 



Fam. MusTELiDiE. 

 Genus Galictis, Bell. 



Chah. Gen. Denies molares spurii ■^^^ 



Rostrum breve. 



PalmcE atque plant<B nudse subplantigradse. 

 Ungues breviusculi. curvi, acuti. 

 Corpus elongatum, depressum. 



Sp. 1. Galictis vittata. 



G. vertice, collo, dor so, atque caudd Jiavescenti-griseis ; rostra gula 

 etpeciorefuscescenti-nigris; fascia a fronte usque ad Jmmeros 

 vescenti-albidd ; pilis longis taxis. 

 Viverra vittata, Schkeber, Langth., p. 447, t. cxxiv. Gmel., 



Syst. Nat. Linn., I. p. 89. 

 Ursus Brasiliensis, Thunb., Mem. Acad. Petersb., VI. p. 401, 



t. xiii. 

 Lutra vittata, Traill, Mem. Wern. Soc, III. p. 437, t. xix. 

 Gulo vittatus, Desmar., Mammal., p. 175, sp. 268. Isid. Geoffr. 

 in Diet. Class., VII. p. 384. Fred. Cuv. in Diet, des Sc. 

 Nat., XIX. p. 79. 

 Galictis vittata, Bell, Zool. Journ., II. p. 552. 

 Petit furet, D'Azara, Essai sur I'Hist. Nat. de Parag. (Trad. 



Fran9.), I. p. 190. 

 Fouine de la Guyane, Buffon, Suppl., III. p. 161, t. xxiii. 

 Grison, Shaw, Gen. Zool., I. p. 392. Cuv., Reg. An., I. p. 146. 



Fred. Cuv., Mara., I. 

 Habitat in Guyana, Paraguay, Brazilia. 



" The general form, attitudes, and movements of this animal resem- 

 ble those of the common Polecat. The head is depressed ; the 

 muzzle moderately acute, but not attenuated, projecting beyond 

 the lower jaw ; the eyes are moderately large, the iris dark brown 

 or nearly black; the ears short, broad, and rounded; the teetli 

 are almost exactly similar to those of true Mustela, particularly 

 M. putorius ; the body is elongated and much depressed, covered with 



