1837.] On a new genus of the Plantigrades. 563 



ally the latter, to less than half their size in the skull of Herpestes*. 

 The thorax is much more capacious in Urva than in Herpestes ; the 

 spinous processes of the cervical vertebrse are smaller and more equal ; 

 and there are only 21 caudal vertebrse instead of 28, as in Herpestes. 

 In both Herpestes and Gulo there are but four mammae : in our animal 

 there are six. The snout of our animal is much more elongated and 

 mobile than in Gulo : more so palpably than in Herpestes. Lastly, 

 the anal apparatus of Urva, differs from that of both genera, approxi- 

 mating it very closely to the mephitic weasels, to Horsfield's Mydans, 

 and to our Ursitaxus. 



Too little is known of the anal and quasi-anal organs of many 

 odorous and foetid genera to enable me to speak with much confidence 

 on this subject ; but I take the present occasion to retract the asser- 

 tion made in your April No. for last year relative to Herpestes. Both 

 the Nipalese species of that genus (Herpestes,) have a congeries of 

 small glands surrounding the caudal margin of the anus like a ring, 

 and secreting a thick musky peculiar substance, which is slowly pro- 

 truded in strings like vermicelli, through numberless minute scattered 

 pores. And the lowland species (or Nyula, nobis) has also on either 

 side the rectum, two larger and hollow glands, of similar character with 

 the others, apparently, but distinguished by a rather thinner secretion 

 by the hollowness of these glands, and by each being furnished with 

 a larger and palpable pore. The peculiarity of our Urva is that it 

 has only the lateral glands ; that their secretion is aqueous, horribly 

 foetid, and projectile to a great distance by the living animal by means 

 of the muscular rings which surround the neck of the duct ; not to 

 mention that the central cavity is much larger, and has a more distinct 

 neck or duct, which points obliquely backwards or outwards, causing 

 the discharge to be in that direction, I append to this paper a note 

 by Dr. Campbell, taken at my request, on the anal apparatus of our 

 Urva, upon which type of our proposed new genus, I shall add no 

 more at present save that its manners, so far as known to me, agree 

 much more nearly with those of Gulo than with those of Herpestes. 



Genus Mustela ; subgenus Putorius, Cuvier. Species new. Sub- 

 hemachalanus, nobis. Structure, and aspect of Cathia vel auriventer p 

 nobis. Vide Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, December 1835. 



* The compressed parietes and large cristse of Herpestes are interesting pointe 

 of agreement with Viverra; as the tumid parietes and small cristse or' Gulo and 

 of Urva, are with Mustela. The former or odoriferous races bear in respect to 

 the form and size of the encephalon the same analogy with the third section of 

 the caninee, as the latter or foetid races do with the second section. 



