1882.] AFRICAN MUNGOOSES. 81 
Ili. Bprocaun. 
Bdeogale, Peters, Reise nach Mossamb., Siug. 
Pe VID (1852) 0. ayie te PE cee ee B. crassicauda. 
Range. East Africa (Mozambique, Zanzibar) ;? West Africa (Ga- 
boon). 
Toss 4—4, Teeth and other characters as in Herpestes, with 
especial resemblance to those of the subgenus Ichneumia (see above, 
p. 77). In Dr. Peters’s original description, he states that on the fore 
feet there is only a minute rudiment of a first metacarpal, and on the 
hind feet not even this trace of the normal first toe. In a spirit 
specimen of B. puisa in our collection, I cannot even find the rudi- 
mentary first metacarpal, so that this individual is absolutely without 
any remnant of the first digit. 
The following are the three species which have been described as 
belonging to this genus; but it must be confessed that the two Mo- 
zambique species are very closely allied to each other; and as to the 
West-African one, I have already stated my belief that it is only a 
synonym of Herpestes albicauda; but not having had the oppor- 
tunity of examining the type, I put it provisionally in its place here, 
with Dr. Pucheran’s short diagnosis appended. 
Type. 
1. BDEOGALE CRASSICAUDA. 
* B. crassicauda, Peters, tom. cit. p. 120, Taf. xxvii. (1852). 
Hab. Mozambique (Tette-Boror). 
Characters much as in B. puisa (described below), except that the 
tail is distinctly longer in proportion, and the tail-hairs, which are 
very long, have their basal halves white and their terminal black, 
while in B. puisa they are uniformly blackish brown. The last 
molar also in the present species seems to be proportionally some- 
what longer, judging from Dr. Peters’s excellent figures. 
Dimensions. 
Head and 
body. Tail. Hind foot. 
a. Mozambique (type) .........- 17°0 10°6 3°15 
Skull 
Length. Breadth. Palate-length. 
a. Type (from Peters) .......... BT 1°79 1°96 
2. BDEOGALE PUISA. 
* B. puisa, Peters, tom. cit. p. 124, Taf. xxviii. (1852). 
Hab. Mozambique (Mossimboa) (Peters); Zanzibar (Kirk). 
Size rather large ; form slender ; tail short, not half so long as the 
head and body. Underside of the hind foot thickly hairy to the 
base of the toes. General colour dull brownish, with or without 
annulations. Underfur tawny yellow, long and soft. Limbs 
1 From front of jaw to foramen magnum. 
Proc. Zoox. Soc.—1882, No. VI. 6 
