96 VivERRiD.*;. MAMMALIA. Viverrid^. 
(joarageously against every attack. The lungs are so 
constructed that they cannot subsist for more than a 
few minutes under water, but are necessitated to 
reascend to the surface for breath. These opportuni- 
ties are seized by tlie hunters, who would seldom 
succeed if the otter could remain long under water, 
where it swims with great rapidity and skill. The 
hunters row in the little Aleutian baidars or boats 
round the coast, and for some miles out to sea, being 
provided with bows, arrows, and short javelins, which 
they discharge as soon as they observe an otter. The 
animal is seldom struck at first ; it immediately dives, 
and as it swims very rapidly, the skill of the hunter is 
displaj'ed in giving the canoe the same direction as 
that taken by the animal. As soon as the otter 
reappears on the water, it is once more fired at, when 
down it dives again ; and the pursuit is thus continued 
until the creature becomes so weary that it is at length 
easily struck. Sometimes the otters succeed in tearing 
out with their teeth the arrows which have wounded 
them, and often, especially if their young are with 
them, boldly rush upon the canoes, and attack their 
persecutors — employing for this purpose their powerful 
teeth and claws. These conflicts, however, uniformly 
terminate in the defeat and death of the otter. The 
hunt is safer when the canoes are numerous, but, with 
experienced hunters, two boats are sufficient.” 
Family III.— VI VERBIDS. 
This family embraces a large section of the Carnivora, 
but the interest attaching to them being probably less 
than that accorded to any other subdivision of the 
Mammalia, we shall consequently devote a smaller 
space to their consideration. By many naturalists the 
hyaenas are included in this group ; yet, as they are 
clearly osculant between the civets and the cats, it is 
our intention to consider them as a separate family. 
The civets, properly so called, have usually forty teeth, 
their dental formula displaying the ordinary number of 
incisors and canines seen in the typical Carnivora, but 
almost invariably presenting twenty-four molars — that 
is to say, six above and below on either side ; and of 
these, the anterior sixteen are spurious, while, of the 
remaining eight, six only are tuberculated — a pair of 
the inferior true molars being carnassial in their cha- 
racter. The tongue is furnished with numerous sharp, 
rough, horny papillae, which are directed backwards. 
The feet are more or less digitigrade, being generally 
pentadactylous, but in some cases tetradactylous — the 
claws being slightly raised during progression. Seba- 
ceous glandular follicles exist in the anal region, capable 
of secreting a more or less disagreeable foetid matter 
The various kinds of viverrine carnivors are widely 
distributed over the eastern hemisphere. A solitary 
species of civet, with long hair, large ears, and a small 
pointed head, is known to inhabit Mexico. The natu- 
ralist Lichtenstein has described and figured it under 
the combined generic and specific title of Bassaris 
astuta. 
THE GALET {Cryptoprocta ferox ). — This creature 
is about the size of our common stoat. The body is 
very slender, terminating posteriorly in a long hairy 
tail, having throughout an almost uniform thickness. 
The head is narrow ; the muzzle being short, with the 
nostrils deeply notched laterally. The mouth and eyes 
are comparatively small, more particularly the former. 
The ears are remarkably large, conspicuous, and hairy ; 
they have an oval outline, the margin being folded 
upon itself posteriorly; the internal surface is also 
marked by sinuosities. The whiskers are numerous 
and strongly developed. The limbs are stoutish, and 
of moderate length, the anterior pair being rather 
shorter than the hind ones. The feet are plantigrade 
and pentadactylous, the soles being naked, and the 
digits furnished with compressed, retractile, incurved 
claws ; those of the anterior feet being more sharply 
pointed than the posterior series. The galet is a native 
of the island of Madagascar. Although plantigrade in 
its walk, most of the characters above recorded, as well 
as those of the dentition, serve to indicate a close alli- 
ance with the more highly carnivorous cats and dogs. 
It is to Mr. Bennett that naturalists are indebted for 
having early described this species in the first volume 
of the Zoological Society’s Transactions. 
THE DELUNDUNG {Prionodon gracilis) comes so 
near to the cats in certain particulars, that Dr. Hors- 
field originally described it as a species of Felis in his 
valuable “ Zoological Researches in Java.” It was 
discovered by him in the district of Blambangan at the 
eastern extremity of the island in the year 1806. The 
length of the body is about fifteen and a half inches, 
not including the tail, which would give us rather more 
than another foot. A glance at the excellent figure 
presented in the work above quoted, is sufficient to 
prove its distinctiveness as a separate species — the 
body being singularly elongated, vermiform, and rather 
slimly built. The tail is also very long, cylindrical, 
and particularly thick at the base, the outline of the 
rump being prolonged, as it were, into that of the 
extended caudal development. The head is tapering, 
and sharply pointed in front. The nose is elongated, 
naked, and furnished with laterally-placed nostrils. 
The jaws are provided with thirty-eight teeth of which 
there are twenty-two molars, five on either side above, 
and six correspondingly o{)posed in each series below. 
The ej'es are placed far forward, and have a circular 
pupil. The ears are rather small, short, rounded, and 
somewhat irregular at the margin. Long whisker 
proceed from the upper lip, projecting backwards 
beyond the head; others also rise from the angles 
of the mouth, and from the interspaces between the 
eyes and ears. The feet are five-toed and digiti- 
grade, being clothed with hair above and below. 
The digits are provided with minute, sharply-pointed, 
retractile claws. The delundung is an attractive and 
elegant species. “On a ground of pale, yellowish- 
white, which covers the throat, breast, belly, sides, 
and part of the back and tail, the distinguishing 
marks of a deep brown colour, inclining to black, 
are arranged in the following manner: — Four trans- 
verse bands, gradually increasing in breadth, cover 
the back at intervals between the limbs. On the rump 
are two narrow bands ; two longitudinal stripes take 
their origin, one between the ears, the other near the 
posterior angle of the eye on each side, and pass, with 
