reception of the crown of the first molar of the lower jaw. The first molar is a
transversely elongated, antero-posteriorly compressed tooth, with a small external
cusp, with two others internal to it at its base, the inner half of the tooth, which is at
a still higher level, slightly exceeding in size the external half of the crown, having
its free surface concave from without inwards and terminating internally in a rather
sharp point. The last molar is also transversely elongated, but very small and only
about one-fourth the size of the preceding tooth. I t is very simple, being generally
bicuspidate, one cusp being external and the other internal.
The central pair of inferior incisors are the smallest teeth in the lower jaw, and
have simple, flattened crowns. The pair external to them are slightly larger and
tend to become bitubercular, while the internal pair are considerably larger and
have the bitubercular character more pronounced. The canines do not call for
remark, and the first premolar is very much laterally compressed and simple. In an
example of B . auropwictatus, there are, so to speak, two first premolars on the left
side of the jaw, having the appearance as if the tooth had been divided in two. I t
is not an instance of the presence of the milk and permanent teeth in the jaw at the
same time, for it is apparent that they are both newly through the gum. Moreover,
the more posterior of the two is considerably longer than the first permanent premolar
should be, so that it would appear that the posterior of the two is the abnormal
tooth. This condition is in no way akin to the observation recorded by Ogilby and
accepted by Dr. Gray with regard to the supposed occurrence of two additional teeth
in the lower jaw of B . vitticollis, and which I have explained in another part of this
Memoir. The crowns of the first, second, and third inferior premolars are triangular,
long, and laterally compressed, and at the base of the crown anteriorly, and posteriorly
in the first, there is a slight eminence due to a swelling of the cingulum, but on the
third premolar a small cusp is developed over the last mentioned of these eminences,
both of which are more prominent in it than in its predecessor. In the fourth premolar
the cusp has become considerably enlarged, and the anterior and posterior
processes of the cingulum form prominent ridges. The first molar has the anterior
two-thirds of the crown carrying three strong, triangular, divergent cusps, one external,
one anterior, and one internal, the first of these being the largest and longest.
The posterior third of the crown is at a much lower level, concave, shelving upwards
and outwards, its external margin, in some, showing a tendency to division. The last
molar is «mall, and generally with two anterior and one posterior cusp. But it
appears to be the most variable of the teeth, and in B . bracJiyurus is quadricuspidate,
there being three external and one internal cusp.
The skull is narrow and elongated, the hrain-case equalling about two-thirds of
its entire length, and it is marked anteriorly by a well-defined, post-orbital contraction.
The lambdoidal ridge forms a prominent crest truncated above, but with
lateral sides, while the sagittal suture is but little elevated, and it is joined immediately
behind the post-orbital contraction by the obscure ridges from the tips of the external
angular processes of the frontal. The latter processes are very prominent, and are
opposed to the inferior, posterior, orbital processes of the maxilla, the tendency being
for these two processes to unite in adult life and to enclose the orbit posteriorly,
complete union of these processes generally taking place when the sutures of the
cranium are all amalgamated. I know of only one Species of the Asiatic Berpestes
I have examined, in which these two processes probably do not unite, viz., B . semi-
torquatus, and in which the orbit is always imperfect. The infra-orbital foramen
is well defined. The palatal surf ace is triangular, with the palatines prolonged backwards
beyond the alveolar border, as in the skulls of allied families, and with the pterygoids
forming the lateral angles of the posterior nates, the commencement of which is
opposite to the articular surface of the squamous. The palatal border of the posterior
nares may be either simply arched, or the arched portion may contract to a narrow
notch, or the palatine border may be transverse. The tympanic bullse are prominent,
and project below and external to the opening of their osseous tube. The lower jaw
has a prominent, ascending ramus, and a somewhat upwardly reverted, backwardly
projecting, posterior angle. I have tabulated the measurement of the skulls of the
different species, and an inspection of the table and accompanying figures shows
how uniform the skull characters are, and how closely some of the species are related.
Dr. Gray included in the genus Berpestes,oi which B . ichneumon may be taken
as the type, Berpestes jerdonii, B . pallidus, B . persicus, B.fuscus, B . javanicus, B .
semitorquatus, B . exilis, B . malaccensis, and B . brachyurus. The foregoing is the
order pursued in the Catalogue of Carnivora, &c., in the British Museum, in which
the Madras Berpestes jerdonii, which is closely allied to B . pallidus, is placed along
with the African forms, although the genus Berpestes is divided by Dr. Gray into an
African and Asiatic sub-division. That this arrangement is thoroughly artificial is
evinced by the circumstance that the small Mungoose, B . persicus, which is apparently
only a local form of B . auropwictatus, is placed between B . pallidus and B.fuscus,
two large forms nearly allied to each other, but markedly distinct from B . persicus,
whose nearest ally, B . auropwictatus, is located in a separate genus Qalogale, to
which Berpestes pallidus is also referred under Hodgson’s specific name of nyula.
Again, B . exilis, Gervais, which is identical with B . rutilus, Gray, and B . jaxanicus,
is classified along with B . semitorquatm and B . malaccensis, the former being a Mungoose
nearly affined to B . urva and B . vitticollis, while B . malaccensis is evidently
the same as B. pallidus. The Ceylon Mungoose, B.maccarthice, is ranked as a distinct
genus, Onychogale, on account of the length of its claws, which is undoubtedly a
result of the animal having been kept in confinement; while the other Ceylon form,
B . smithii, which has a complete and not “ rather incomplete” orbit as mentioned in
the foregoing Catalogue, is also placed in a separate g&imsCalictis, apparently also
founded on claw characters, the result of confinement. The large Madras Mungoose,
B., vitticollis, which has its nearest affines in B . urva and B . semitorquatus, is
regarded as the type of a distinct genus Tceniogale, whilst B . urva has also its own
genus Urva, and the Bornean, neck-banded Mungoose, which is cloSely allied
to these, is allocated to Berpestes.
The genus Tamioggle is founded on altogether fallacious grounds, viz., the
supposed presence of 42. teeth. Ogilby, in 1835, described the skull, now in the