462 
CARNIVORES. 
tail 27 inches. When taken young it is said to be readily tamed. The small size 
of the cheek-teeth—especially the nearly triangular form of the upper flesh-tooth 
—suggests that it feeds largely upon vegetable substances. The second species is 
closely allied, having three similar dark stripes down the back. 
The Hemigales. 
Genus Hemigale. 
Another type of palm-civet is represented by the so-called Hemigale, for which 
there does not appear to be any recognised English title. Of this genus there are 
two species, the one, Hardwicke’s hemigale ( H . hardwickei), found both in the 
Malay Peninsula and Borneo, and the other, or Hose’s hemigale ( H. hosei), confined 
to Mount Dulit in the northern part of the latter island, where it has only recently 
been discovered. The hemigales are distinguished from the other palm-civets by 
having a much smaller portion of the soles of the feet naked, and likewise by their 
coloration, which is different from that of any other representatives of the family, 
although approached to some extent by the linsangs. This characteristic coloration 
takes the form, in the typical Hardwicke’s hemigale, of a variable number of broad 
transverse dark bands crossing the back, of which the ground-colour is a pale 
brownish-grey; the number of these bands being very generally either five or six. 
There are also some dark longitudinal stripes on the nape of the neck; while the 
upper half of the tail is banded with dark rings. A peculiarity of these animals is 
that the direction of the hair on the back of the neck is reversed. Their habits 
are probably very similar to those of the other palm-civets. 
The African Palm-Civet. 
Genus Nandinia. 
The last member of this group is the African palm-civet {Nandinia binotata), 
which although nearly allied to the Oriental forms is distinguished by certain 
structural peculiarities in the skull, and also by having a shorter muzzle than any 
other member of the family to which it belongs. The fur is of a greyish-brown colour, 
with the back and sides marked with large dark spots, and a pale spot on either side 
of the shoulders from which it takes its second scientific name. The tail, which is 
about two-thirds the length of the head and body, is indistinctly ringed with dark 
bands; the animal thus being the fourth representative of the palm-civets in which 
the tail is thus ornamented. In size this animal is rather smaller than the average 
of the typical palm-civets. 
The African palm-civet is found on the West Coast, in the district of Fernando 
Po; and it will be thus apparent that it presents precisely the same relation to the 
Oriental palm-civets in respect to geographical distribution as is presented by the 
African linsang to its Eastern cousins. We are not acquainted with any account 
of the habits of this animal, but the nature of the* teeth suggests that it lives largely 
on flesh. 
