tains but
one genus and species. It has the sloping back of the hyaena, the
hind legs being lower than the fore, and it might almost, from its
shape and colouring, be taken for that animal when young. The skull
however is prolonged, and the teeth are civet-like. It is nocturnal
and gregarious, several living in the same burrow. Like the hyaena
it lives on carrion. It has a fifth toe on the fore feet.

VIVERRIDAE--THE CIVET FAMILY.

The Civets are confined to the Old World; they are mostly animals
with long bodies, sharp muzzle, short legs, long tapering tail and
coarse fur; they are semi-plantigrade, walking on their toes, but
keeping the wrist and ankle nearer to the ground than do the cats;
the claws are only partially retractile; the skull is longer in the
snout than that of felines, and, altogether narrower, the zygomatic
arches not being so broad, the base of the skull is much the same,
and the _bulla tympani_ shews little difference; the teeth, however,
are decidedly different. There are four premolars and two molars on
each side of each jaw, which, with the normal number of canines and
incisors, give forty teeth in all; the canines are moderate in size,
and sharp; the premolars conical, and the molars cuspidate, which
gives them a grinding surface instead of the trenchant character of
the cats; the tongue is rough, the papillae being directed backwards;
the pupils are circular. The most striking characteristics of the
family is, however, the sub-caudal pouch, which in most produces an
odorous substance, and in the typical civet the perfume of that name.

[Illustration: Dentition of Civet.]

Dental formula: inc., 3--3/3--3; can., 1--1/1--1; premolars,
4--4/3--3; molars, 2--2/3--3.

The family contains the Civet, Genette, Linsang, Suricate, Binturong
and Mongoose, though this last is separated by Jerdon, who follows
Blyth.

_GENUS VIVERRA_.

Anal pouch large, and divided into two sacs secreting the _civet_
perfume of commerce; pupil vertical and oblong; fur spotted and
coarse, lengthened into an erectile mane on the back; diet mixed
carnivorous and vegetivorous.

NO. 221. VIVERRA ZIBETHA.
_The Large Civet Cat_ (_Jerdon's No. 119_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Katas_, Hindi; _Mach-bhondar_, Bengali, also
_Bagdos_ and _Pudo-gaula_ in some parts; _Bhran_ in the Nepal Terai;
_Nit-biralu_, Nepalese; _Kung_, Bhotia; _Saphiong_, Lepcha,
(_Jerdon_); _Khyoung-myen_, Aracanese.

HABITAT.--According to Jerdon this s