ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 
US 
tail, Felis planiceps; the handsome and very long-tailed 
Marbled Cat, Felis marmorata , found in the Hima¬ 
layan region, Assam, Burma and the Malayan peninsula ; 
and the small cat from Java, Felis javanica , which is a 
miniature representation of the fishing cat of Bengal. 
Considerable difficulty has always been experienced in 
keeping these smaller cats alive in confinement. 
The Family Viverridce contains the Civets so well 
known for the perfume which they yield and which is 
secreted in two pouches beneath the tail, from which 
it is scraped out at intervals from animals kept in 
confinement for this purpose. The civets are intermediate 
between the cats and the hyaenas. Their skulls, however, 
differ much from those of cats in the elongation of 
the facial portion, and consequently their jaws are much 
longer and feebler, their teeth are more numerous, 
and the canine teeth are smaller. These modifications 
have reference to their modes of life, as they are not 
nearly so carnivorous as the cats. The forms of the 
Viverridcz are varied, and familiar illustrations are the 
Civet itself, the Paradoxure or Palm-cat, the Mongoose, 
and that remarkable looking animal, the Binturong. 
One of the oldest residents in the Gardens is the In¬ 
dian Civet, Viverra zibetha , which occupies one of the 
cages of this house. It was captured at Ballygunge, the 
species being common round Calcutta, more especially 
towards the east. It, however, extends as far northwards 
as Nipal and Sikkim, and southwards to Travancore; it 
also ranges into southern China and into the Malayan 
peninsula. A nearly allied species occurs in Africa. 
The common Paradoxure which is erroneously called 
the Tree-cat or Palm-cat, is exceedingly abundant in and 
