or _bali-soor_ (sand-pig) of
the natives of the mountains of north-eastern India, Burma and Borneo.
It is rather larger than the badger, higher on its legs, and very
pig-like in general aspect, of a light grey colour, with
flesh-coloured snout and feet; nocturnal and omnivorous. Other species
or local varieties have been described from north China and Burma.

In the genus _Mydaus_ the dentition is as the last, but the cusps of
the teeth are more acutely pointed. Skull elongated, face narrow and
produced. Suborbital foramen small, and the palate, as in all the
succeeding genera of this group, produced backwards about midway
between the last molar and the glenoid fossa. Vertebrae: C. 7, D.
14-15, L. 6-5, S. 3, Ca. 12. Head pointed in front; snout produced,
mobile, obliquely truncated, the nostrils being inferior. Limbs rather
short and stout. Tail extremely short, but clothed with rather long
bushy hair. Anal glands largely developed, and emitting an odour like
that of the skunks. One species, _M. meliceps_, the teledu, a small
burrowing animal from the mountains of Java, at an elevation of 7000
or more ft. above the sea-level; and a second (_M. marchei_) from the
Philippines.

In the true badger of the genus _Meles_ the dentition is i. 3/3, c.
1/1, p. 4/4, m. 1/2; total 38. The first premolar in both jaws is
extremely minute and often deciduous; while the upper molar is much
larger than the sectorial, subquadrate, and as broad as long. Lower
sectorial with a broad, low, tuberculated heel, more than half the
length of the whole tooth. The postglenoid process of the skull so
strongly developed, and the glenoid fossa so deep, that the condyle of
the lower jaw is firmly held in place after the soft parts are
removed. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 15, L. 5, S, 3, Ca. 18. Muzzle pointed.
Ears very short. Body stout, broad. Limbs short, strong,
subplantigrade. Tail short. Typified by the common badger (_M. taxus_
or _M. meles_) of Europe and northern Asia, still found in many parts
of England, where it lives in woods, is nocturnal, burrowing and very
omnivorous, feeding on mice, reptiles, insects, fruit, acorns and
roots. Other nearly allied species, _M. leucurus_ and _M. chinensis_,
are found in continental Asia, and _M. anakuma_ in Japan.

In the nearly-allied genus _Taxidea_ the dental formula is as in
_Meles_, except that the rudimentary anterior premolars appe