On a new Species of Prionodon. 59 



faces of the body covered with large round entire black 

 marks, of which six or seven may be counted longitudinally 

 from the shoulders to the base of the tail, and eight trans- 

 versely, those nearest the dorsal ridge being the largest, and 

 the others gradually lessening as you descend the flanks 

 and the limbs, the latter of which outside, are spotted 

 to the base of the digits : tail banded with sixteen to seven- 

 teen nearly equal, and perfect rings of alternate black and 

 fulvous, the last ring being vague with mixed hues, and 

 dusky tip to the tail, and the dark caudal rings upon the 

 whole the larger : mustachios dark, nude skin of nose and 

 pads of the feet of a fine fleshy pink hue. So far as can be 

 judged by the skins, the dimensions agree most closely with 

 those of Horsfield's type, or P. gracilis, being about sixteen 

 inches long and thirteen to fourteen more for the tail, with 

 a mean height of about six inches. The animals are said 

 to have the manners of cats, to spring and climb with great 

 power, to prey on small mammals and birds, and to frequent 

 trees much in search of the former, as well as for shelter. 

 The following specific character may serve to mark our ani- 

 mal ; — Prionodon, with rich pardine hues, or orange bufFspot- 

 ted with black ; the neck above with irregular lines ; the 

 body above and laterally with large entire round marks, 

 eight in transverse and seven in longitudinal series, dimi- 

 nishing in size from the dorsal ridge and extending outside 

 the limbs to the digits ; below entirely immaculate ; tail 

 with eight to nine nearly equal and perfect rings of each 

 of the hues of the body, or black or ruddy yellow. Habi- 

 tat, the Sub-Hemalayan mountains : not known in the 

 Plains. 



Plate I. Illustrations of Viverra, Viverricula, and Prio- 

 nodon. 



Fig. I. Odoriferous pouch stripped of its integuments ; 2,2 the glands ; 

 3,3 dilated rima lying between them; 4,5 upper and lower secreting 

 surfaces at bottom of the rima ; 6,6 testes. 



