that any affinity which it manifests in the direction of B . nipalensis is through the
intermediately lying form E . moschata, which hy its geographical position and
doubtless hy its genesis is related muoh more to B . nipalensis than to B .
subaurantiaca, Swinhoe, the skull of which in its dentition and the size of its
infraorbital foramen belongs to the same type as B . moschata, Gray, whereas the
skull of B . nipalensis, Hodg., in these details is closely allied to B . orientalis,
Horsfd. The following are some of the details by which these species may be
recognised. B . orientalis is distinguished from B . nvpalensis by the shortness of its
alveolar border, including that of the premaxilla, so that the former has a shorter
muzzle than the latter; whereas in B . moschata and B . subanrimtiaca the alveolar
length is almost equal, and considerably in excess of B . orientalis and shorter than
B . nipalensis, and the posterior portion of the palate in all the species, exoept B.
orientalis, is concave, and the portion behind the last molar is longer and broader
in B . moschata. In all, with the exception of B . nipalensis, the external margin of
the palatines where they project behind, forming the wall of the posterior nares,
present a faint ridge externally, with a convex surface outside it which is wanting
in B . nipalensis. The skull of B . orientalis is distinguished by-the shortness of the
interval between the narial margin of the palatines and the tip of the hook-like
process of the pterygoids, which is less than in any of the other species. The skull of
B . nipalensis is considerably broader across the zygomatic arch, external to the
condyle, rt, a.n in B . omentalis ,* the former also has a longer muzzle than the latter,
as is shown by the distance from the external orbital angle to the tip of the pre-
maxillaries, and from the front of the penultimate molar to the same point, both of
which distances in B . nipalensis exceed those of B . orientalis. In the former, the
muzzle is also narrower across its middle than in the latter, and the nasals are contracted
about the same position in their length, and rounded, and somewhat expanded
and pointed posteriorly. The premaxillaries of B . orientalis nearly touch the
nasals, but in //. nipalensis they are considerably removed from these bones.
The tympanic bullse of the latter are somewhat less distended and smaller than in
the former.
The skull of B . moschata is long, and in this respect resembles B . nipalensis',
and differs from the short skull of B . orientalis ; it is, however, markedly separated
from these two species by its small teeth and by the gTeat capacity of its infraorbital
foramen. Its muzzle has about the same length and proportions as
B . nipalensis, but the long posterior portion of the palate, which is broader and
more decidedly concave than in that species, has a ridged and rounded lateral border.
In B . moschata and B . subaurantiaca the length of the two skulls is about the
same, and the two palates are nearly of equal dimensions, that of the former being
slightly in excess of the latter, but not to a greater extent than would be accounted
for by difference of sex or age, for in other respects the skulls are essentially alike.
In the length of the palate, Z . moschata agrees with B . nipalensis, which, on
the other hand, is considerably in excess of the palatal length of B . orientalis.
The difference in length of palate that exists between B . moschata and B . mbaurantiaca
is not greater than that between different skulls of undoubted B.
orientalis. I t is also observable that the last-mentioned species presents two types
of skull, one in which the orbital contraction of the frontals is not so narrow
as in the other type, and associated with the greater width at this point,
the skull, across the anterior border of the squamosal suture, is also broader than
in the narrower type, and the ridges of the external orbital angle are much further
apart than in the narrow skulls, the upper surface being therefore more flattened
than in the narrow form. These differences are in all likelihood due to sex, and it is
probable that the broad type represents the male, and the other and more slender
skull the female sex. In the British Museum there1 is only one skull of B .
moschata and one of B . subaurantiaca, and it is interesting to-observe that the former
belongs to the same type of skull as the broad skull of B . orientalis, and the
latter to the narrow form of the skull of that species, and that these two skulls
are as intimately related to each other as the supposed male and female skulls of
E. orientalis. With these scanty materials, however, it would be premature to say
that the Formosan form is not specifically distinct from the continental wolverine,
but it seems to me that the remarkable similarity that exists between the skulls
of the type specimens of the species points in the direction of the iTmnW form
being only a local variety whose distinguishing characters are as yet confined to its
pelage.
After a careful consideration of Is. Geoffroy’s description of B . personata, which
was procured in the neighbourhood of Rangoon, and which Blyth regarded as
B . orientalis, I am disposed to think that it is more applicable to B . moschata, in
which the colour accords with that ascribed by Geoffroy to his species, in which
also, as in .S', moschata, the hair, especially on the thighs and fore arms, is tipped
with white, which is not the case in .B. nipalensis, which is a dark-coloured form.
This species was originally described from Cantor’s specimens, and Swinhoe1 has
observed it in Hainan, Amoy, and Shanghai, so that it has a wide distribution over
Eastern Asia. With regard to Shanghai specimens, the latter naturalist remarks
that they are more tinged with orange-yellow on the under parts, and that in colour
they approach the Formosan species.
Swinhoe has mentioned the crepuscular habits of the Formosan wolverine, and
from personal knowledge I am aware that B . nipalensis appears to be essentially
nocturnal in its habits, being only seen at night, when it comes out to feed, and it
not unfrequently enters the huts of the Bhooteas and lepchas of Darjeeling.
On one occasion, in a Bhootea hut, I killed a Nepal wolverine, having mistaken it for
a large ra t; but my host was much chagrined at my successful raid on the supposed
intruder, as he informed me the animal had been nightly in the habit of visiting
him, and that it was not only inoffensive, but most useful in destroying cockroaches
and other insects.
1 Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1870, p. 623.