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CARNIVAL (Med. Lat. carnelevarium, fr...

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 376 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CARNIVAL (Med. See also:Lat. carnelevarium, from taro, tarns, flesh, and levare, to lighten or put aside; the derivation from valere, to say farewell, is unsupported)  , the last three days pre-ceding See also:Lent, which in See also:Roman See also:Catholic countries are given up to feasting and merry-making . Anciently the See also:carnival was held to begin on twelfth See also:night (6th See also:January) and last till midnight of Shrove Tuesday . There is little doubt that this See also:period of See also:licence represents a See also:compromise which the See also:church always inclined to make with the See also:pagan festivals and that the carnival really represents the Roman Saturnalia . See also:Rome has ever been the headquarters of carnival, and though some popes, notably See also:Clement IX. and XI. and See also:Benedict XIII., made efforts to See also:stem the See also:tide of Bacchanalian revelry, many of the popes were See also:great patrons and promoters of carnival keeping . See also:Paul II. was notable in this respect . In his See also:time the See also:Jews of Rome were compelled to pay yearly a sum of 113o See also:golden florins (the See also:thirty being added as a See also:special memorial of Judas and the thirty pieces of See also:silver), which was expended on the carnival . A See also:decree of Paul II., minutely providing for the diversions, orders that four rings of silver gilt should be provided, two in the Piazza Navona and two at the See also:Monte Testaccio—one at each See also:place for the burghers and the other for the retainers of the nobles to practise See also:riding at the See also:ring . The See also:pope also orders a great variety of races, the expenses of which are to be paid from the papal See also:exchequer—one to be run by the Jews, another for See also:Christian See also:children, another for Christian See also:young men, another for sexagenarians, a fifth for asses, and a See also:sixth for buffaloes . Under See also:Julius III. we have See also:long accounts of See also:bull-hunts—or rather bull-baits—in the See also:Forum, with gorgeous descriptions of the magnificence of the dresses, See also:CARNIVORA and enormous suppers in the See also:palace of the Conservatori in the capitol, where seven cardinals, together with the See also:duke See also:Orazio See also:Farnese, supped at one table, and all the ladies by themselves at another . After the supper the whole party went into the courtyard of the palace, which was turned into the semblance of a See also:theatre, " to see a most charming See also:comedy which was admirably played, and lasted so long that it was not over till ten o'See also:clock!" Even the austere and rigid Paul IV . (ob . 1559) used to keep carnival by inviting all the Sacred See also:College to dine with him .

See also:

Sixtus V., who was elected in 1585, set himself to the keeping of carnival after a different See also:fashion . Determined to repress the lawlessness and See also:crime incident to the period, he set up gibbets in conspicuous places, as well as See also:whipping-posts; the former as a hint to robbers and cut-throats, the latter ip See also:store for See also:minor offenders . We find, further, from the provisions made at the time, that Sixtus reformed the evil See also:custom of throwing dirt and dust and See also:flour at passengers, permitting only See also:flowers or sweetmeats to be thrown . The later popes for the most See also:part restricted the public festivities of the carnival to the last six or seven days immediately preceding Ash Wednesday . The municipal authorities of the See also:city, on whom the regulation of such matters now depends, allow ten days . The carnival See also:sports at Rome anciently consisted of three divisions: (1) the races in the Corso (formerly called the Via Lata, and taking its See also:present name from them), which appear to have been from time immemorial a part of the festivity; (2) the spectacular See also:pageant of the Agona; (3) that of the Testaccio . Of other See also:Italian cities, See also:Venice used in old times to be the See also:principal See also:home, after Rome, of carnival . To-See also:day See also:Turin, See also:Milan, See also:Florence, See also:Naples, all put forth competing programmes . In old times Florence was conspicuous for the licentiousness of its carnival; and the Canti Carnascialeschi, or carnival songs, of Lorenzo de' See also:Medici show to what extent the licence was carried . The carnival in See also:Spain lasts four days, including Ash Wednesday . In See also:France the merry-making is restricted almost entirely to Shrove Tuesday, or mardi gras . In See also:Russia, where no Ash Wednesday is observed, carnival gaieties last a See also:week from See also:Sunday to Sunday .

CARNIV®RA, the zoological See also:

order typified by the larger carnivorous placental See also:land mammals of the present day, such as lions, tigers and wolves, but also including See also:species like bears whose See also:diet is largely See also:vegetable, as well as a number of smaller flesh-eating species, together with the See also:seals and their relatives, and an See also:extinct See also:Tertiary See also:group . Apart from this distinct group (see CRE000NTA), the Carnivora are characterized by the following features . They are unguiculate, or clawed mammals, with never less than four toes to each See also:foot, of which the first is never opposable to the See also:rest; the claws, or nails, being more or less pointed although occasionally rudimentary . The See also:teeth comprise a See also:deciduous and a permanent See also:series, all being rooted, and the latter divisible into the usual four series . In front there is a series of small pointed incisors, usually three in number, on each See also:side of both jaws, of which the first is always the smallest and the third the largest, the difference being most marked in the upper See also:jaw; these are followed by strong conical, pointed, .recurved canines; the premolars and molars are variable, but generally, especially in the anterior part of the series, more or less compressed, pointed and trenchant; if the crowns are See also:flat and tuberculated, they are never complex or divided into lobes by deep inflexions of See also:enamel . The condyle of the See also:lower jaw is a transversely placed See also:half-See also:cylinder working in a deep glenoid fossa of corresponding See also:form . The See also:brain varies much in See also:size and form, but the hemispheres are never destitute of convolutions . The See also:stomach is always See also:simple and pyriform; the caecum is either absent or See also:short and simple; and the See also:colon is not sacculated or much wider than the small See also:intestine . Vesiculae seminales are never See also:developed, but See also:Cowper's glands may be present or absent . The uterus is two-horned, and the teats are abdominal and variable in number; while the See also:placenta is deciduate, and almost always zonary . The clavicle is often absent, and when present never See also:complete . The See also:radius and ulna are distinct; the scaphoid and lunar of the See also:tarsus are See also:united, there is never an os centrale in the adult; and the fibula is distinct .

The large See also:

majority of the species subsist chiefly on See also:animal See also:food, though many are omnivorous, and a few chiefly vegetable-eaters . The more typical forms live altogether on recently-killed warm-blooded animals, and their whole organization is thoroughly adapted to a predaceous mode of See also:life . In conformity with this manner of obtaining their subsistence, they are generally bold and See also:savage in disposition, though some are capable of being domesticated, and when placed under favourable circumstances exhibit a high degree of intelligence . I . FISSIPEDIA The typical See also:section of the group, the Carnivora See also:Vera,Fissipedia or Carnassidentia, includes all the existing terrestrial members of the order, together with the otters and See also:sea-otters . In this section the fore-limbs never have the first See also:digit, or the See also:hind-limbs the first and fifth digits, longer than the others; and the incisors are * on each side, with very rare exceptions . The cerebral hemispheres are more or less elongated; always with three or four convolutions on the See also:outer See also:surface forming See also:arches above each other, the lowest surrounding the Sylvian fissure . In the cheek-series there is one specially modified tooth in each jaw, to which the name of " sectorial " or " carnassial " is applied . The teeth in front of this are more or less See also:sharp-pointed and compressed; the teeth behind broad and tuberculated . The characters of the sectorial teeth deserve special See also:attention, as, though fundamentally the same throughout the group,they are greatly modified in different genera . The upper sectorial is the most posterior of the teeth which have predecessors, and is therefore reckoned as the last premolar (p`4 of the typical dentition) . It consists of a more or less compressed blade supported on two roots and an inner See also:lobe supported by a distinct See also:root (see fig .

I) . The blade when fully developed has three,cusps (I, 2 and 3), but the anterior is always small, and often absent . The See also:

middle See also:cusp is conical, high and pointed; III and the posterior cusp has a compressed, straight, See also:knife-like edge . The inner cusp . (4) varies in extent, but is generally placed near the anterior end of the blade, though sometimes median in position . In the Ursidae alone both the inner cusp and its root are wanting, and there is often a small See also:internal and posterior cusp (5) without root . In this See also:family also the sectorial is relatively to the other teeth much smaller than in other Carnivora . The lower sectorial (fig . 2) is the most anterior of the teeth without predecessors in the See also:milk-series, and is therefore reckoned the first molar . It has two roots supporting a See also:crown, consisting when fully developed of a compressed bilobed blade (r and 2), a See also:heel (4), and an inner tubercle (3) . The cusps of the blade, of which the hinder (2) is the larger, are separated by a notch, generally prolonged into a linear fissure . In the specialized Felidae (I) the blade alone is developed, both heel and inner tubercle being absent or rudimentary .

In Metes (V) and Ursus (VI) the heel is greatly developed, broad and tuberculated . The blade in these cases is generally placed obliquely, its flat or See also:

convex (outer) side looking forwards, so that the two lobes or cusps are almost side by side, instead of anterior and posterior . The inner tubercle (3) is generally a conical pointed cusp, placed to the inner side of the hinder lobe of the blade . The special characters of these teeth are more disguised in the sea-See also:otter than in any other species, but even here they can be traced . v The toes are nearly always armed with large, strong, curved and sharp claws, ensheathing the terminal phalanges and held firmly in place by broad plates of See also:bone reflected over their attached ends from the bases of the phalanges . In the Felidae these claws are " retractile "; the terminal phalange with the claw attached, folding back in the fore-foot into a sheath by the outer or ulnar side of the middle phalange of the digit, and retained in this position when at rest by a strong elastic See also:ligament . In the hind-foot the terminal See also:joint or phalange is retracted on to the See also:top, and not the side of the middle phalange . By the See also:action of the deep flexor muscles the terminal phalanges are straightened, the claws protruded from their sheath, and the soft " velvety " paw becomes suddenly converted into a formidable weapon of offence . The habitual retraction of the claws preserves their points from See also:wear . The land Carnivora are best divided into two subgroups or sections—(A) the Aeluroidea, or Herpestoidea, and (B) the Arctoidea; the recognition of a third section, Cynoidea, being rendered untenable by the See also:evidence of extinct forms . (A) Aeluroidea.—In this section, which comprises the See also:cats (Felidae), civets (Viverridae). and hyenas (Hyaenidae), the tympanic bone is more or less ring-like, and forms only a part of the outer See also:wall of the tympanic cavity; an inflated alisphenoid bulla is developed; and the See also:external auditory meatus is short . In the nasal chamber the maxillo-turbinal is small and doubly folded, and does not cut off the naso-turbinal and adjacent bones from the nasal See also:aperture .

The See also:

carotid See also:canal in the See also:skull is short or absent . Cowper's glands are present, as is a prostate gland and a caecum, as well as a duodenal-jejunal flexure in the intestine, but an os penis is either wanting or small . The members of the See also:cat tribe, or Felidae, are collectively characterized by the following features . An alisphenoid is lacking on the lower aspect of the skull . In existing forms the usual cat tribe. dental See also:formula is i . 3, c. f, p . , m . 1; the upper molar being rudimentary and placed on the inner side of the carnassial, but the first premolar may be absent, while, as an abnormality, there may be a small second lower molar, which is constantly present in I II H i . IQ 6 some of the extinct forms . The auditory bulla and.the tympanic are divided by an internal See also:partition . The paroccipital See also:process is See also:separate from, or only extends to a slight degree upon the auditory bulla . The thoracic vertebrae number 13; the feet are digitigrade, with five front and four hind toes, of which the claws are retractile; and the metatarsus is haired all See also:round .

Anal glands are present . As regards the teeth, when considered in more detail, the incisors are small, and the canines large, strong, slightly recurved, with trenchant edges and sharp points, and placed wide apart . The pre-molars are compressed and sharp-pointed; the most posterior in the upper jaw (the sectorial) being a large tooth, consisting of a compressed blade, divided into three unequal cusps supported by two roots, with a small inner lobeplaced near the front and supported by a distinct root (fig . 1, I) . The upper molar is a small tubercular tooth placed more or less transversely at the inner side of the hinder end of the last . In the lower jaw the molar (sectorial) is reduced to the blade, which is large, trenchant, compressed and divided into two subequal lobes (fig . 2, I) . Occasionally it has a rudimentary heel, but never an inner tubercle . The skull generally is short and rounded, though proportionally more elongated in the larger forms; with the facial portion short and broad, and the zygomatic arches wide and strong . The auditory bullae are large, rounded and smooth . Vertebrae: C . 7, D .

13, L . 7, S . 3, Ca . 13-29 . Clavicles better developed than in other Carnivora, but not articulating with either the See also:

shoulder-bones or sternum . Of the five front toes, the third and See also:fourth are nearly equal and longest, the second slightly, and the fifth considerably shorter . The first is still shorter, not reaching the metacarpophalangeal See also:articulation of the second . In the hind-feet the third and fourth toes are the longest, the second and fifth some-what shorter and nearly equal, while the first is represented only by the rudimentary metatarsal bone . The claws are large, strongly curved, compressed, very sharp, and exhibit the retractile See also:condition in the highest degree . The tail varies greatly in length, being in some species a See also:mere stump, in others nearly as long as the See also:body . The ears are of moderate size, more or less triangular and pointed; and the eyes rather large, with the See also:iris See also:mobile, and with a pupillary aperture which contracts under the See also:influence of See also:light in some species to a narrow See also:vertical slit, in others to an See also:oval, and in some to a circular aperture . The See also:tongue is thickly covered with sharp, pointed, re-curved horny papillae; and the caecum is small and simple .

As in structure so in habits, the cat may be considered the most specialized of all Carnivora, although they exhibit many features connecting them with extinct types . All the members of the group feed almost exclusively on warm-blooded animals which they have themselves killed, but one See also:

Indian species, Felis viverrina, is said to See also:prey on See also:fish, and even fresh-See also:water molluscs . Unlike See also:dogs, they never See also:associate in packs, and rarely See also:hunt their prey on open ground, but from some place of concealment wait until the unsuspecting victim comes within reach, or with noiseless and stealthy tread, crouching See also:close to the ground for concealment, approach near enough to make the fatal See also:spring . In this manner they frequently attack and kill animals considerably exceeding their own size . They are mostly nocturnal, and the greater number, especially the smaller species, more or less arboreal . None are aquatic, and all take to the water with reluctance, though some may habitually haunt the See also:banks of See also:rivers or pools, because they more easily obtain their prey in such situations . The numerous species are widely diffused over the greater part of the habitable See also:world, though most abundant in the warm latitudes of both hemispheres . None are, however, found in the Australian region, or in See also:Madagascar . Although the Old World and New World cats (except perhaps the See also:northern See also:lynx) are all specifically distinct, no See also:common structural See also:character has been pointed out by which the former can be separated from the latter . On the contrary, most of the See also:groups into which the family may be divided have representatives in both hemispheres . Notwithstanding the considerable diversity in external See also:appearance and size between different members of this extensive family, the structural See also:differences are but slight . The principal differences are to be found in the form of the cranium, especially of the nasal and adjoining bones, the completeness of the bony See also:orbit posteriorly, the development of the first upper.premolar and of the inner lobe of the upper sectorial, the length of the tail, the form of the See also:pupil, and the condition and coloration of the See also:fur, especially the presence or See also:absence of tufts or pencils of See also:hair on the external ears .

In the typical genus Felis, which includes the great majority of the species, and has a See also:

distribution coextensive with that of the family, the upper sectorial tooth has a distinct inner cusp, the claws are completely contractile, the tail is long or moderate, and the ears do not carry distinct tufts of hair . As regards the larger species, the See also:lion (F. See also:leo), See also:tiger (F. See also:tigris), See also:leopard (F . Pardus), See also:ounce or See also:snow-leopard (F. uncia) and clouded leopard (F. nebulosa) are described in separate articles . Of other Old World species it must suffice to mention that the Tibetan Fontanier's cat (F. tristis), and the Indian marbled cat (F. marmorata), an ally of the above-mentioned clouded leopard, appear to be the See also:Asiatic representatives of the See also:American ocelots . The Tibetan See also:Pallas's cat (F. See also:manul) has been made the type of a distinct genus, Trichaelurus, in allusion to its long coat . One of the largest of the smaller species is the See also:African See also:serval, q.v . (F. serval), which is yellow with solid See also:black spots, has long limbs, and a relatively short tail . Numerous " tiger-cats " and " leopard-cats," such as the spotted F. bengalensis and the uniformly See also:chestnut F. badia, inhabit tropical See also:Asia; while representative species occur in See also:Africa . The See also:jungle-cat (F. thaws), which in its slightly tufted ears and shorter tail foreshadows the lynxes, is common to both continents . Another African species (F. ocreata) appears to have been the See also:chief progenitor of the See also:European domestic cat, which has, however, apparently been crossed to some extent with the See also:ordinary See also:wild cat (F. catus) . Of the New World species, F. concolor, the See also:puma or couguar, commonly called " See also:panther " in the United States, is about the size of a leopard, but of a See also:uniform See also:brown See also:colour, spotted only when young, and is extensively distributed in both See also:North and See also:South See also:America, ranging between the See also:parallels of 6o° N. and 5o° S., where it is represented by numerous See also:local races, varying in size and colour . F. onca, the See also:jaguar, is a_larger and more powerful animal than the last, and more resembles the leopard in its See also:colours; it is also found in both North and South America, although with a less extensive range, reaching northwards only as far as See also:Texas, and southwards nearly to See also:Patagonia (see JAGUAR) .

F. pardalis and several allied smaller, elegantly-spotted species inhabiting the intratropical regions of America, are commonly confounded under the name of See also:

ocelot or tiger-cat . F. yaguarondi, rather larger than the domestic cat, with an elongated See also:head and body, and of a uniform brownish-See also:grey colour, ranges from northern See also:Mexico to See also:Paraguay; while the allied F. See also:eyra is a small cat, See also:weasel-like in form, having an elongated head, body and tail, and short limbs, and is of a uniform light reddish-brown colour . It is a native of South America and Mexico . F, pajeros is the See also:Pampas cat . The typical lynxes, as represented by Lynx borealis (L. lynx), the See also:southern L. pardina, and the American L. rufa, are a northern group common to both hemispheres, and characterized by their tufted ears, short tail, and the presence of a rudimentary heel to the lower carnassial tooth . As a See also:rule, they are more or less spotted in See also:winter, but tend to become uniformly-coloured in summer . They are connected with the more typical cats by the long-tailed and uniformly red See also:caracal, Lynx (Caracal) caracal, of See also:India, See also:Persia and Africa, and the propriety of separating them from Felis may be open to doubt (see LYNX and CARACAL) . However this may be, there can be no doubt of the right of the See also:hunting-leopard or See also:chita (See also:cheeta), as, in common with the leopard, it is called in India, to distinction from all the other cats as a distinct genus, under the name of Cynaelurus jubatus . From all the other Felidae this animal, which is common to Asia and Africa, is distinguished by the inner lobe of the upper sectorial tooth, though supported by a distinct root, having no salient cusp upon it, by the tubercular molar being more in a See also:line with the other teeth, and by the claws being smaller, less curved and less completely retractile, owing to the feebler development of the elastic ligaments . The skull is short and high, with the frontal region broad and elevated in consequence of the large development of See also:air-sinuses . The head is small and round, the body light, the limbs and tail long, and the colour See also:pale yellowish-brown with small solid black spots (see CHEETA) . The family Viverridae, which includes the See also:civet-cats, genets and mongooses, is nearly allied to the Felidae, but its members have a See also:fuller dentition, and exhibit certain other structural Civet tribe. differences from the cats, to the largest of which they make no approach in the See also:matter of bodily size .

As a rule, there is an alisphenoid canal ; the cheek-dentition is p . 3 or 4, 3or4 m. or 2 The bulla is small and the tympanic large, with a See also:

low I Or 2 See also:division between them; and the paroccipital process is See also:leaf-like and spread over the bulla . The number of dorsal vertebrae, except in the aberrant Proteles, is 13 or 14; the claws may be either completely or partially retractile or non-retractile; generally each foot has five toes, but there may be four in front and five behind, the See also:reverse of this, or only four on each foot; the gait may be either digitigrade or partially plantigrade; and the metatarsus may be either hairy or naked inferiorly . Anal, and in some cases also perineal, glands are developed . The family is limited to the warmer parts of the Old World . Considerable difference of See also:opinion prevails with regard to the serial position of the fossa, or See also:foussa (Cryptoprocta ferox), of Madagascar, some writers considering that its See also:affinities are so close to the Felidae that it ought not to be included in the present family at all . Others, on the contrary, see no See also:reason to separate it from the Viverrinae or more typical representatives of the civet-tribe . As a See also:medium course, it may be regarded as the See also:sole representative of a special subfamily—Cryptoproctinae--of the Viverridae . The sub-family and genus are characterized by possessing a See also:total of 36 teeth, arranged as i . , c. p . , m . The teeth generally closely resemble those of the Felidae, the first premolar of both jaws being very See also:minute and See also:early deciduous; the upper sectorial has a small inner lobe, quite at the anterior part; the molar is small and placed transversely; and the lower sectorial has a large trenchant bilobed blade, and a minute heel, but no inner tubercle .

The skull is generally like that of Felis, but proportionally longer and narrower, with the orbit widely open behind . Vertebrae: C . 7, D . 13, L . 7, S . 3, Ca . 29 . Body elongated . Limbs moderate in size . Feet sub-plantigrade, with five well-developed toes on each, carrying sharp, compressed, retractile claws . Ears moderate . Tail long and cylindrical .

The foussa is a sandy-coloured animal with an exceedingly long tail (see Foussa) . The more typical members of the group, constituting the subfamily Viverrinae, are characterized by their sharp, curved and largely retractile claws, the presence of five toes to each foot, and of perineal and one pair of anal glands, and a tympanic bone which retains to a great extent the See also:

primitive ring-like form, so that the external auditory meatus has scarcely any inferior See also:lip, its orifice being close to the tympanic ring . The first representatives of the subfamily are the civet-cats, or civets (Viverra and Viverricula), and the genets (Genetta), in all of which the dentition is i . 3, c.1 , p . , m . ; total 40 . The skull is elongated, with the facial portion small and compressed, and the orbits well-defined but incomplete behind . Vertebrae: C . 7, D . 13, L . 7 (or D . 14, L .

6), S . 3, Ca . 22-30 . Body elongated and compressed . Head pointed in front; ears rather small . Extremities short . Feet small and rounded . Toes short, the first on fore and hind feet much shorter than the others . Palms and soles covered with hair, except the pads of the feet and toes, and in some species a narrow central line on the under side of the sole, extending backwards nearly to the heel . Tail moderate or long . The pair of large glands situated on the perineum (in both sexes) secretes an oily substance of a peculiarly penetrating odour . In the true civets, which include the largest members of the group, the teeth are stouter and less compressed than in the other genera; the second upper molar being especially large, and the auditory bulla smaller and more pointed in front; the body is shorter and stouter; the limbs are longer; the tail shorter and tapering .

The under side of the tarsus is completely covered with hair, and the claws are longer and less retractile . Fur rather long and loose, and in the middle line of the See also:

neck and back especially elongated so as to form a sort of See also:crest or mane . Pupil circular when contracted . Perineal glands greatly developed . These characters apply especially to V. civetta, the African civet, or civet-cat, as it is commonly called, an animal rather larger than a See also:fox, and an inhabitant of intratropical Africa . V. zibetta, the Indian civet, of about equal size, approaches in many respects, especially in the characters of the teeth and feet and absence of the crest of elongated hair on the back, to the next section . It inhabits See also:Bengal, See also:China, the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula and adjoining islands . V. tangalunga is a smaller but nearly allied animal from the same part of the world . From these three species and the next the civet of See also:commerce, once so much admired as a perfume in See also:England, and still largely used in the See also:East, is obtained . The animals are kept in cages, and the odoriferous secretion collected by scraping the interior of the perineal follicles with a See also:spoon or spatula . The single representative of the genus Viverricula resembles in many respects the genets, but agrees with the civets in having the whole of the under side of the tarsus hairy; the alisphenoid canal is generally absent . V. malaccensis, the rasse, inhabiting India, China, See also:Java and See also:Sumatra, is an elegant little animal which affords a favourite perfume to the Javanese .

The genets (Genetta) are smaller animals, with more elongated and slender bodies, and shorter limbs than the civets . The skull is elongated and narrow; and the auditory bulla large, elongated and rounded at both ends . The teeth are compressed and sharp-pointed, with a lobe on the inner side of the third, upper premolar not present in the previous genera . Pupil contracting to a linear aperture . Tail long, slender, ringed . Fur short and soft, spotted or cloudy . Under side of the metatarsus with a narrow See also:

longitudinal bald streak . Genetta vulgaris, or G. genetta, the common See also:genet, is found in France south of the See also:river See also:Loire, Spain, south-western Asia and North Africa . G. felina, senegalensis, tigrina, victoriae and pardalis are other named species, all African in See also:habitat . The Malagasy fossane (Fossa daubentoni), which has but little markings on the for of the adult, differs by the absence of a See also:scent-pouch and the presence of a couple of See also:bare spots on the under surface of the metatarsus . The beautiful linsangs (Linsanga or Prionodon), ranging from the eastern See also:Himalaya to Java and See also:Borneo, are represented by two or three species, easily recognizable by the broad transverse bands of blackish brown and yellow with which the body and tail are marked . They are specially distinguished by having only one pair of upper molars, thereby resembling the cats, with which, in correlation with their arboreal habits, they agree in their highly retractile claws, and the hairy surface of the under side of the metatarsus .

About 15 in. is the length of the type species . In See also:

West Africa the linsangs are represented by Poiana richardsoni, a small species with a spotted genet-like coat, and also with a narrow naked stripe on the under surface of the metatarsus, as in genets . Here may be placed the two African spotted See also:palm-civets of the genus Nandinia, namely N. binotata from the west and N. gerrardi from the east See also:forest-region . In common with the true palm-civets, they have a dentition numerically identical with that of Viverra and Genetta, but the cusps of the hinder premolars and molars are much less sharp and pointed . They are See also:peculiar in that the wall of the inner chamber of the auditory bulla never ossifies, while the paroccipital process is not flattened out and spread over the bulla . In this respect they resemble the See also:Miocene European genus Amphictis, as they do in the form of their teeth, so that they may be regarded as nearly related to the ancestral Viverridae, and forming in some degree a connecting See also:link between the present and the next sub-family . Nandinia is also peculiar in possessing a See also:kind of rudimentarymarsupial pouch . Apparently Eupleres goudoti, of Madagascar, which has been generally classed in the Herpestinae, is a nearly related animal, characterized by the reduction of its dentition, due to insectivorous habits (fig . 3) ; the canines being small, the anterior premolars canine-like, and the hinder premolars molariform . It is a uniformly-coloured creature of medium size . The palm-civets, or paradoxures, constituting the Asiatic genus Paradoxurus, have, as already stated, the following dental formula, viz. i. g, c . }, p .

4, m . 2, total 40; the cusps of the molars being low and blunted, and these teeth in the upper jaw much broader than in the civets . The head is pointed in front, with small rounded ears; the limbs are of medium length, with the soles of the feet almost completely naked, and fully retractile claws; while the long tail is not prehensile and clothed with hair of moderate length . Spots are the chief type of marking . The vertebrae number C . 7, D . 13, L . 7, S . 3, Ca . 29-36 . Numerous relatively large species ranging from India to Borneo, Sumatra and See also:

Celebes, with one in See also:Tibet, • represent the genus . Nearly allied are Arctogale leucotis, with a wide distribution, and A. trivirgata, of Java, both longitudin