1840.] 



Mammalogy of the Himalayas, 



151 



lower terraces of the hills ; whilst the Wah, or CMtivaJi {Ailurus fulrjens) 

 and the Bentiuovg {Arctitis AlbifromY are said to be confined to the 

 Kachar, and regions bordering on the snow-line. As regards the Wah, 

 there is no doubt about the truth of the habitat here assigned to it; but 

 the Benturong is a native of the Indian Archipelago, and of the Penin- 

 sula of Malacca; and I strongly suspect, that it i as been confounded 

 with some other animal, perhaps with Paradoxurus hondai\ or some close- 

 ly'' allied species. The habitat of Booian, assigned to it in the Regne 

 Amvial, is altogether erroneous. jNIessrs. Gray and Isidore Geoffroy 

 have proposed to consider the Gulo nepalensis as the type of a new 

 genus, the former under the name of Helictis moschata, the latter under 

 that of Melogale personata. 



CARNIVORA DIGITIGRADA. 



It was mentioned incidentally in the preceding article, that many species 

 of Carnivora were common to India, and the Continent of Africit ; audit 

 is not a little singular, that this migration appears to have proceeded exclu- 

 sively from west to east, and never in the opposite direction ; or, in other 

 words, that whilst the Carnivora of Africa have found their v^aj' freely into 

 the neighbouring Continent, those of India have never passed the Arabi- 

 an desert. I do not pretend to account for this . Perhaps it may depend 

 upon the physical character of the two Continents, and the influence 

 which this circumstance exerts in modifying the nature and habits of 

 their respective inhabitants. The Lion of the burning Sahara, for in- 

 stance, like the wild Taurick or Bedoween of the same regions, would 

 find the parched deserts of Syria and Persia no barrier to his pro- 

 gress towards the East ; whilst, on the other hand, the Tiger of the moist 

 jungles of Bengal could no more pass the arid plains of Arabia than the 

 puny and luxurious Hindoo, accustomed to the same humid soil and 

 atmosphere. But whatever may be its cause, the fact itself is as un- 

 doubted as it is interesting. The common distribution of the Batel over 

 both Continents has been already mentioned. This animal is spread 

 over the whole of Africa ; it is common in every part of the Cape colony, 

 and Denham and CTapperton brought it from Bornou ; and though its 

 geographical limits have not been accurately ascertained in i^sia, we 

 know that it abounds on the plains of Northern India, which do not differ 

 much in their physical structure from the Karroos of South Africa. So 



* Mr. Hod^soD, in Zool. Proc, ii. 90. 



