434 CHARACTERS OF GRISONS 



ill'. Apliii terms it/ is known also as the " Huron." It almost 

 rivals the Skunk in the power of the odour which it can emit 

 when enraged. A trapped specimen was placed in a cage 50 

 yards or so from the house, and even at this distance it was 

 disagreeably easy to tell when any one visited the animal — at 

 least when the wind set in the right direction. It is greyish 

 yellow above and blackish beneath, presenting, as has been 



Fig. 220. — Grisou. Ofisunia vittata. x i. 



remarked, a curious similarity to the Eatel. The nose of this 

 animal is destitute of a median groove, which is present in the 

 Tayra ; the soles of the feet, however, are naked as in that animal, 

 and it is nearly plantigrade in walk. It differs also from Galictis 

 in having sixteen ^ instead of fourteen dorsal vertebrae. Eleven 

 of the ribs reach the sternum. Considering the differences that 

 exist between some other genera of Arctoids, it may be fairly 

 allowed that a genus (Jrisonia is tenable. 



G. allamandi is darker coloured than the Grison, with a white 

 band from the forehead to the neck. Mr. T. Bell described a 

 tame individual as eating eggs, frogs, and even a young 

 alligator. 



A third geniis of this group has recently been founded by Mr. 

 Oldfield Thomas ^ for a small African animal, which is Grison-like 

 in its coloration. The name given to the genus, Galeriscus, 

 is intended to suggest its liken&ss to the Grison {Gcdera or 

 Grisonia). The chief distinctive feature of this genus, whose 

 skeleton is not yet known, is the presence of only four digits on 

 each limb ; the pollex and the hallux being entirely absent. The 

 ears of this Grison are short. 



^ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894, p. 306. 

 - I found fifteen. ' Ann. Nat. Hist. (6) xiii. 1893, p. 522. 



