384 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



to recur to similar observations, particularly when in some 

 degree opposed to such powerful authority as that of the 

 eminent zoologist just mentioned ; but so long as the true 

 distinctive test between mere varieties of the same species 

 and absolute diversity, remains so indeterminate as it is at 

 present, uncertainties on this subject must prevail. An 

 undue multiplication of species is so much the more ear- 

 nestly to be deprecated, as it is injurious to zoological sci- 

 ence, by swelling the catalogues of proper names, if not to 

 the actual number of individuals, at least of the several coun- 

 tries or degrees of latitude and longitude in which the same 

 species may be enabled to exist under various influences. 



A comparative slight diversity of size and colour seems 

 to constitute the principal differences between the Rasse 

 and the Zibet ; but as Doctor Horsfield himself, with his 

 usual learning and ability, compares the two, we shall con- 

 clude our observations on these animals in his words. 



" The entire length of the Rasse, from the end of the 

 muzzle to the root of the tail, is one foot eleven inches ; 

 the head measures five inches and one-fourth, and the tail 

 twelve inches ; the distance between the ears, at the base, 

 is ten lines. A very perfect specimen of the Viverra Zi- 

 betha, the Tanggalung of the Malays, forwarded from Su- 

 matra by Sir Stamford Raffles, affords the means of shewing 

 more distinctly the peculiarities of the Rasse by a careful 

 comparison. The Tanggalung is two feet six inches long ; 

 the head measures six inches and three-fourths, and the 

 tail eleven inches. The space between the ears is two 

 inches. The proportion of the parts of the body of the two 

 species are very different. The Viverra Zibetha is compa- 

 ratively a stout animal ; the neck is short and thick, and 

 the breast full and distended. The head, which in the 

 Rasse is regularly attenuated, in form of a wedge, in the 

 Tanggalung, is swelled, rounded, and bulging before the 

 ears, and then very abruptly contracted to a short muzzle. 



