MYDAUS MELICEPS. 



on his return from Java, and were also sent by me to the Museum of the Honourable 

 East India Company, in the year 1813. 



The 27th Livraison of the Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes, pubUshed by Mr. Fr^d. 

 Cuvier, in Paris, contains a figure of our animal under the name of Tdagon, com- 

 municated to him by Mr. Diard. This figure, drawn from life, suggested to 

 Mr. Cuvier a careful comparison of the Teledu with several species of Mephitis with 

 which it had been associated. He was enabled to make this comparison by means 

 of the specimens and bony parts of the Teledu preserved in the Museum in Paris, 

 as well as by a good drawing of the Chinche, the Mephitis dimidiata of Fischer, 

 made by his brother in America, and by the skeletons of Mephitis found in 

 the same collection. He remarks that in physiognomy the Chinche and the 

 Teledu have nothing in common but the plantigrade manner of placing the foot on 

 the ground; and he has separated the Teledu into a distinct genus, for which he 

 proposes the name of Mydaus, while the species, in consequence of the form of the 

 head, is defined by that of WIeliceps. In illustration of his views, Mr. Cuvier has 

 added several comparative remarks, of which the following is the substance : — " The 

 " Chinche-Mephitis dimidiata- has a rounded head, a short pointed, not very broad 

 " muzzle, which calls to mind the head of the Fitchet, or rather of the Cat, if the 

 " muzzle of this were less obtuse. On the contrary, the head of the Tdlagon calls to 

 " mind the elongate muzzle and snout of the Badger, with a face still narrower. 

 " The Chinche further has a large tail, furnished with long, bushy hairs, which it 

 " elevates as a plume on its back, in the same manner as Squirrels. The T^lagon, on 

 " the contrary, is almost deprived of this organ, its tail being scarcely an inch long, 

 " and very scantily provided with hairs. The examination of the bony parts further 

 " confirms the propriety of separating these animals into distinct genera. The 

 " elongation of the head of the Tdiagon, and the narrowness of its muzzle, are the 

 " cause that the grinders are individually more separated from each other, and that 

 " the front teeth, instead of being placed nearly in a straight line, are disposed in 

 " form of a very small arch or curve. There is also a diflference in the relative 

 " arrangement of the grinders in the jaw-bones, which affects the communication 

 " of the nostrils and the posterior parts of the movith." 



During the examination and arrangement of my notes and collections relating 

 to this svibject, I have carefvilly compared with our animal, a head and preserved skin 

 of the Mephitis dimidiata of Fischer, the Chinche of Buffon, above mentioned. 

 This had been sent to England by Mr. Franklin, from Cvimberland House, an esta- 

 blishment of the Hudson's Bay Company on Slave Lake, and was in a very perfect 

 state of preservation. I owe to the kindness of Mr. Joseph Sabine, Secretary to the 

 Horticultural Society, the opportunity of making this comparison. I likewise exa- 

 mined another species of Mephitis contained in the extensive and highly instructive 

 Museum of Mr. Brooks. At the Royal CoUege of Surgeons I was favoured with 



