11 



coudyle. The condyle is horizontal, transverse, very narrow, and acute 

 internally^ on the outer half, its articular surface looks upward ; on the 

 inner half, backward. The coronoid process rises straight and high, 

 nearly uniformly tapering to the apex, a perpendicular from which falls 

 decidedly in advance of the condyle (c/. Couepatus). The general mus- 

 cular impression on its outer face is well marked. It is pointed below, 

 and reaches forward on the ramus to a point underneath the last lower 

 molar {cf. Couepatus). 



As remarked under the head of Conepatus^_ the dental formula of 

 tlie three genera of Mepliitiiun does not, in point of fact, differ. The dif- 

 ference is nil as between Mephitis and ISpilogcde^ in Gonepatus, a supposed 

 lesser number of teeth is only true in the very small size of the abor- 

 tive, deciduous, or, at any rate, not functionally developed anterior 

 upper premolar. In Mephitis^ also, the tooth may be very small, or even 

 abortive, on one or both sides of the jaw; it is, however, normally 

 present and readily recognizable. 



Selecting an average skull, of middle age, with full^'-developed, yet lit- 

 tle-worn, dentition, (for in verj- old skulls the teeth are so ground down 

 as not to furnish fair characters,) we observe the following points : 



The back upper molar is the largest of the grinders, about as long as 

 broad, quadrate, with rouncled inner corners, and entirely tuberculous. 

 It is completely divided across lengthwise by a sulcus, on the outer side 

 of which is a narrow portion, much higher than the broad inner portion, 

 and separated from it not only by the groove across the face of the tooth, 

 but by a nick in the hinder border. This elevated outer moiety is ob- 

 lique on its face from the general level of the dentition ; it runs to a point 

 at its fore and hind end, and has a central, slightly-excavated field, with 

 irregular-raised boundary. The Hatter inner moiety- of the tooth is 

 chiefly occupied by a large antero-internal tubercle, separated by a 

 curved sulcus from a posterior raised margin. The next tooth — back 

 premolar — differs altogether from the same flesh-tooth in the Mustelincv. 

 It is relatively smaller, and has not a prominent isolated antero-internal 

 fang. On the contrary, it is triangular in general outline, the inner cor- 

 ner of the triangle representing the fang of tlie Musielime just named ; 

 this is cuspidate, but this whole inner moiety is low and "tuberculous" 

 in comparison with the elevated and truly sectorial character of the rest 

 of the tooth ; for, viewed in profile from the outside, the tooth seems 

 wholly sectorial, with two cusps, an anterior, produced acute one, and a 

 posterior, shorter and obtuse, separated from the other by an acute 

 re-entrance. Taken together, these two external cusps make the trenchant 

 edge of the tooth. The next premolar is immediately and very markedly 

 reduced in size; it is a small, simple, two-rooted, conical, acute cusp, 

 with a slight posterior "heel" and well-marked cingulum on the inner 

 side. The next — anterior — premolar is exactly like the foregoing, but 

 very much smaller still, and single-rooted; it sometimes aborts. In very 

 old skulls, the foregoing descriptions can hardly be verified. The back 

 molar wears down to a perfectly smooth face, with raised inner and 

 outer borders; the flesh-tooth loses its edge and inner cusp, and becomes 

 almost tuberculous throughout; the other premolars become mere stumps 

 The canines offer no points for remark. Of the upper incisors, the 

 lateral pair is much larger than the rest, though not longer. I fail to 

 appreciate any tangible difference in this respect between Conepatus and 

 Mephitis. The tips of the teeth all fall in the same line; they are even 

 and regular; the ends are obscurely lobate. These teeth start from the 

 sockets quite obliquely, but soon turn x^erpendicularly downward, with 

 an appreciable elbow. , 



