306 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



forms a small curve inward. No whiskers are perceptible, 

 but a few long straggling hairs arise from the upper lip. 

 The covering of the Teledu is adapted to the elevated and 

 cold regions which it inhabits. The fur is composed of long 

 delicate hairs, silky at the base, which are closely arranged, 

 and afford a very warm coat to the body. On the sides of 

 the neck the hairs are lengthened, and have a curved direc- 

 tion upward and backward ; on the top of the head, meet- 

 ing from before and behind, they form a small transverse 

 crest,, and on the abdomen they are thinly disposed, and 

 afford, in some parts, a view of the naked skin. The colour 

 of the hairs is blackish-brown, more or less intense on every 

 part of the body, except the crown of the head, a streak 

 along the back, and the extremity of the tail. These parts 

 are white, with a slight tint of yellow. The mark on the 

 head has a rhomboidal form, obtuse and rounded anteriorly, 

 but gradually attenuated as it passes to the shoulders, 

 where it unites with the streak on the back : in some indi- 

 viduals this streak is interrupted. On the abdomen, the 

 brown is of a lighter hue, inclining to grayish or rufous. 

 The covering is subject to several variations. The tail is 

 scarcely half an inch long, but the hairs covering and sur- 

 rounding it project above an inch from the body. The limbs 

 are short and stout, and the feet agree in structure with 

 those of the allied genera, being formed for the plantigrade 

 manner of walking. The claws are united at the base by a 

 thick membrane, which envelopes this part as a sheath. 

 Those of the fore feet are nearly double the size of those 

 of the hind feet. In place of the pouches and reservoirs of 

 fetid fluids with which several genera of this family are 

 provided, the Mydaus has two glands of an oblong form, 

 about one inch long, and half an inch wide, near the extre- 

 mity of the rectum : they are placed opposite to each other, 

 and are individually furnished with an excretory duct nearly 

 half an inch long, which communicates with this intestine. 



