74 MR. 0. THOMAS ON THE [Jan. 3, 
and on the banks of the smaller rivers of the extreme south of 
Africa ; its principal food consists of frogs, crustaceans, &c,”’ 
6. HERPESTES PULVERULENTUS. 
H. pulverulentus,Wagn. Miinch. Gel. Anzeig. ix. p. 426 (1839). 
*H. apiculatus, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1864, p. 55) (1864). 
Hab. Fastern half of the Cape colony. 
Size rather small, form somewhat stout. Tail about as long as the 
body without the head. Soles of hind feet hairy below calcanea ; the 
rest naked, at least inthe centre. Fur rather long, soft, and shining. 
General colour uniform grizzled grey, the longer hairs annulated 
with equal-sized rings of black and white or yellow. Underfur 
brown for its proximal, and grey for its distal half. Tail-hairs long, 
coloured like the body to the extreme tip. Feet slightly darker 
than the body. 
Skull very like that of H. gracilis, though somewhat stouter and 
the teeth heavier. Last molar less than half the length of the last 
premolar (43-44 per cent.). 
Dimensions. 
Head 
and body. Tail. Hind foot. 
a. S. Africa | Co-types of H. api- { 14:0 Tiss 2°4 
b. i CUlagus,, GTenso 01)5 « 14:0 11°3 2:6 
c. re Salghneeyeoue soot. ase 15:0 11:4 2°3 
d. ay a oo he cen ta oe one 13°0 10°0 2°4 
Skulls. Ine. to Basi- 
Palate- Palate- cross cranial 
Length. Breadth, length. breadth. line. axis. 
a. Kingwilliamstown 
(Trevelyan) .. c. 27 1°39 1°38 —.*89 95 — 
G0. AMID “uss dates; Ada) Vibo BS 95° — 
This Mungoose reminds one somewhat of a small H. caffer, the 
colour and character of its fur being very similar, though it has not, of 
course, the long black tail-tip of that species. Its range seems to 
be rather limited, as all the specimens with exact localities that I 
have seen are from the eastera half of the Cape colony (Algoa Bay, 
Kingwilliamstown, Caftirland, Natal, &c.). It isnaturally very likely 
that it will yet be found further north than Natal ; but it is not pro- 
bable that it will occur in any number, if at all, in the western 
districts of the colony, or it would surely have been recorded from 
there before this. 
T have not been able to find any mention of the habits of this species. 
7. HWeRPESTES PUNCTATISSIMUS. 
*H. punctatissimus, Temm. Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 108 (1853). 
Hab. West and South Africa (Gaboon, Algoa Bay, Z’emm.). 
I have only seen a single specimen of this species, one of the types 
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