413 Zoological Society. 



since they seem to be merely instances of non-development of the 

 bony lamina which should enclose the canal, I think we need not 

 deprive ourselves of the assistance the character affords in the discri- 

 mination of groups ; and further, I believe it will be found that by 

 taking the aggregate of the characters I am here attempting to de- 

 scribe, the true affinities of any member of the order may without 

 much difficulty be ascertained. The foramen glenoideum, when 

 existing in this family, is of very small dimensions ; the auditory bulla 

 has very distinctly the appearance of being divided into two portions, 

 of which the posterior is much the larger, and elongated in form : 

 the more anterior division, which encloses the meatus auditorius ex- 

 ternus, is much smaller, and partly overlapped by the other. In 

 Herpestes and the genera allied to it the separation is rather less 

 distinct, and the general form of the bulla partakes a little of that of 

 the Weasels. The canalis caroticus is most frequently represented 

 simply by a groove in the inner side of the auditory bulla, to give 

 protection to the artery before it enters the cranium by the foramen 

 lacerum anterius ; but in most of the Herpestine genera it is pro- 

 tected by a closed canal, as in the Weasels. These genera, however, 

 have a slight peculiarity of their own in respect to the entrance of 

 the internal carotid artery, and that is, that after emerging from its 

 canal it runs exposed for a short distance before finally entering the 

 cranium. One of the most striking of the essential characters in this 

 family is the structure of the paroccipital process ; it is spread out, 

 widened, and closely applied to the posterior surface of the auditory 

 bulla, and the foramen condyloideum is by this means more or less 

 concealed within the aperture of the foramen jugulare : these cha- 

 racters are very distinct in the Civets and Paradoxuri ; in the Her- 

 pestine genera they are manifested a little less in degree, and the 

 mastoid process is a little more extended, also spread over the audi- 

 tory bulla, and blended with the paroccipital, so that the bony plate 

 clothing, as it were, the posterior part of the bulla, has the appear- 

 ance of being pushed a little towards the side. 



The characters of the lower jaw, I before remarked, although not 

 sufficiently constant in all cases to separate the groups, sometimes 

 show interesting marks of affinity. In most of the genera of this 

 group the coronoid process curves gently backwards as it rises, which 

 is also its character in the Dogs, the Cats, the subursine group, and 

 even in a few of the Weasels ; but in the Herpestes, of whose ap- 

 proximation to the Weasels I have already mentioned so many indi- 

 cations, it presents that form of the coronoid process which charac- 

 terizes most of the members of that group ; and the angular process, 

 although it is a salient process, as usual among the Civets, instead 

 of being pushed up towards the condyle, yet shows that flatness on 

 its lower margin which is more distinctly manifested in the Weasels 

 and Bears than in any other sections of the order. The lower out- 

 line of the jaw has considerable curvature, both in Viverra and Her- 

 pestes. 



Being of opinion that of the two remaining groups, the Cats ap- 

 proach the more nearly to the Civets, I will point out their characters 



