564 On a new genus of the Plantigrades. [Jui/iri 



Eleven and half to twelve inches long from snout to base of tail. 

 Tail five and half inches, or six and half with the terminal hair. 

 Uniform bright brown, darker along the dorsal line. Nose, upper 

 tip and forehead, with two inches of the end of the tail, black brown : 

 mere edge of upper lip and whole lower jaw, hoary. A short longi- 

 tudinal white stripe, occasionally, on the front of the neck and some 

 vague spots of the same, laterally, the signs, I suspect, of immaturity. 

 Feet frequently darker than the body, or dusky brown. Whiskers 

 dark. Fur close, glossy, and soft; of two sorts, or fine hair and 

 soft wool : the latter, and the hair basally, of dusky hue ; but the 

 hair, externally, bright brown. Head, ears and limbs, more closely 

 clad than the body ; tail, more laxly, and tapering to a point. It 

 may be worth while to add that I have recently procured some fine 

 specimens, from the Himdlayan districts, of the Ermine, in the winter 

 dress of the species. 



Putorbis Erminea must, therefore, be added to the catalogue of 

 Nipale^e mammalia. 



In Nepal the Putorii (of which I have now ascertained the exis- 

 tence of three species) are exclusively confined to the northern region. 

 Are there any species of this subgenus in the plains of India ? 



P. S. With reference to our type of the genus Ursitaxus, the 

 following accidental omission in the description, is material. " The 

 penis is large, bony and ringed with two or three corkscrew processes, 

 not unlike those of the same member in Rhinoceros Unicornis. The 

 testes are large, nude, and applied to the buttocks, without any pen- 

 dency of the scrotum." 



It appears somewhat doubtful whether the molar teeth of Ratellus 

 mellivorus be * or J. But, even if they prove to be the former, there 

 will still remain such striking differences of conformation and habits 

 between that animal and our Ursitax as may well entitle the latter to 

 the distinct station I have assigned to it, let the value of the distinction 

 be generic or only sub-generic. 



Urva Cancrivora, Hodgson, (male.) March 3rd, 1837. 



The testicles, included in a neat, and very hairy scrotum, are not 

 remarkably pendent, but are well braced up to the pubis. The penis 

 pointing downwards (to the ground) hangs directly from the pubis as 

 in the tiger, it is terminated by a slender depressed bone |ths of an 

 inch long, and of f^ths an inch in diameter ; the urethra opening on 

 its lower side one line from the point. The prepuce is attached to the 

 os penis close up to the point, rendering it impossible to extend the 



