VIVERRIDE 535 
the muzzle broad and depressed. Whiskers very long and 
abundant. Ears small and rounded. Toes short and slightly 
webbed at the base. Tail short, cylindrical, covered with short 
hair. Fur very dense and soft, of a dark brown colour, mixed 
with black and gray. Humerus without entepicondylar foramen. 
Subfamily Herpestine.—Auditory bulla very prominent, and 
somewhat pear-shaped, the posterior chamber being large, rounded, 
and generally with its greatest prominence to the outer side. The 
anterior chamber considerably dilated, and produced into a short 
inferior wall to the auditory meatus, in which is a depression or 
vacuity just below the centre of the opening of the meatus. 
Sometimes this vacuity is continued into the meatus, forming a 
narrow fissure. The paroccipital process does not project beyond 
the bulla, but is spread out and lost (in adult animals) on its 
posterior surface. Toes straight; claws lengthened, exserted, 
non-retractile. No perineal glands. The dentition is always of 
a markedly sectorial type; and the orbit may be surrounded by 
bone. Very generally the anus opens into a sac-like depression. 
The majority of the genera are Ethiopian; the type genus alone 
extending into the Oriental and Palearctic regions. 
Herpestes.\— Dentition : i 3, ¢ 4, p 4, sometimes 3, m 2; total 
40 or 36. Teeth of molar series generally with strongly developed, 
sharply-pointed cusps. Skull elongated, constricted behind the 
orbits. Face short and compressed. Frontal region broad and 
arched. Postorbital processes of frontal and jugal bones well 
developed, generally meeting so as to complete the circle of the 
orbit behind. Vertebre: C 7, D 13, L 7, 8 3, C 21-26. Head 
pointed in front. Ears short and rounded. Body very long and 
slender. Extremities short. Five toes on each foot, the first, 
especially that on the hind foot, very short. Toes free, or but 
slightly palmated. Palms generally naked. Distal portion of 
soles naked, under surface of tarsus and metatarsus usually 
clothed with hair, but considerable specific variation in this respect. 
Tail long or moderate, generally thick at the base, and sometimes 
covered with more or less elongated hair. The longer hairs 
covering the body and tail almost always annulated. This genus 
contains a very large number of animals commonly called 
Ichneumons, or in India Mungooses, varying in size from that of a 
large Cat down to a Weasel. They are widely distributed over 
the African continent and the southern parts of Asia, especially 
India and the Indo-Malayan archipelago, one species occurring also 
in Spain. They are mostly terrestrial in their habits, feeding on 
small mammals and birds, reptiles, especially snakes, eggs of birds 
and reptiles, and also insects. Some species are partially 
domesticated, being used to keep houses clear of rats, mice, and 
1 Tlliger, Prodromus Syst. Mamm. p. 185 (1811). 
