so MELIDIDiE. 



belongs to this 7si* group, which has a much finer fur than the badger 

 :and ratels, and a nsore carnivorous dentition. 



The next animsB has a less h«avy and more lengthened form. 



Gen. Helictis, Gray. 



5 g 



Char. — Molars - — -, the upper flesh-tooth three-lobed, with a wide 

 6 — o 



■two-pdnted inner process ; Tipper tuberculate tooth moderate, transverse ; 



the lower one ssaaU. Head and body somewhat lengthened ; feet short \ 



soles naked almost to the heel ; nails strong, the anterior ones long, 



compressed, fossorial ; tail moderate, cylindric. 



This genus >was founded on the Chilo orientalis of HorsfieW, and appears 



to be a. sort of link between the badgers and martens. It is stated to be 



Tather camivorous in its habits, and to exhale a musky odour. It is not 



unlike, in general appearance, the Mydaus meliceps, figured by Horsfield, of 



which it has like coloring, viz., pale-brownish with a while dorsal stripe, but 



it is more slfficder in its habit and a different dentition, nearly indeed that 



of Gvio. 



95. Helictis nipalensis. 



Gulo apnl Hodgson, J. A. S., V. 237, and VI. 560.— Blyth, Cat. 

 208. — Oher of the Nepalese. 



The Nepal Wolverine. 



Descr. — Above earthy brown, below with the edge of the upper lip, 

 «nd insides of the limbs, and terminal half of the tail yellowish ; a white 

 mesial stripe from the nape to the hips ; and a white band across the fore- 

 head, spreading on the cheeks, and confluent with the paler color of the 

 lower surlEace ; tail cylindric, tapering, abont half the length of the animal; 

 lialf the planta naked ; fur of two sorts, long, not harsh. 



Length head and body 16 inches ; tail 7|, 9 with the htur. 



The form of this animal, says Hodgson, is decidedly musteline from 

 snout to the tail, with however fossorial fore-feet, and sub-plantigrade, and 

 therefore unsuited either for raptatory or scansorial habits. 



There is no account of its habits or food, but Horsfield states of its 

 Malayan representative, Helictis orientalis, to which the Nepsl animal 

 appears very closely allied, that it is more carnivorous than M^dms, living 



