Ill 



and retiring. It seldom makes its appearance but in the night time, 

 when it feeds upon vegetables, chiefly," he believes, " the Cassada. 

 It is known to the colonists as the Bush-Dog." 



The specimen of Aulacodus, being fully adult, was shown to add 

 much to the knowledge previously possessed of an animal, only one 

 individual of which had hitherto been seen by naturalists, and that 

 individual so young as not to have attained its perfect characters. 

 Mr. Bennett pointed out the deviations, in the specimen exhibited, 

 from the description published by M. Temminck in his ' Monogra- 

 phies de Mammalogie', and proposed the following amended generic 

 character : 



Aulacodus, Van Swind. 



Dentes incisores £, anticZ plani, scalpro cuneato, superiores profundi 

 bisulcati : molares ■£- 4, lamellares : sacculi buccales : pedes an- 

 tici digitis 4, cum rudimento pollicis ; posiici digitis 4 : ungues, 

 prater pollicis subplanum, falculares, fortes, superne rotundati, 

 infrd, dilatati sulcdti: cauda pitosa, mediocris, atienuata. 



The deep sulci on the anterior surface of the incisor teeth of the 

 upper jaw are situated nearer to the inner than to the outer edge of 

 the tooth, and divide its face into three ridges, the inner of which is 

 half the breadth of the middle, and the middle less than half the 

 breadth of the outer. The molar teeth of the upper jaw have two re- 

 entering folds of enamel on the outer, and one on the inner side ; the 

 outer passing beyond the middle of the crown, the inner central and 

 less deeply entering : all the teeth are nearly equal in size : the an- 

 terior three are nearly square j the posterior somewhat rounded : 

 there is no notching on the outer edge, but a distinct notch exists 

 where the enamel folds in on the inner side, especially of the three 

 posterior teeth. In the lower jaw the first molar has three folds of 

 enamel on the inner side passing beyond the middle of the crown, 

 and one small fold slightly notched on the outer : the second and 

 third have two inner folds and one outer, all notched at the edge : 

 the posterior is nearly similar, but more rounded behind. This system 

 of dentition bears a greater resemblance to that of Erethizon, F. Cuv., 

 than to that of any other genus of the Rodentia. 



The covering of the Aulacodus Swinderianus is peculiar, consisting 

 entirely, except on the tail, of flattened somewhat spine-like bristles, 

 from 1 to 1-J- inch in length, the tips only of which are flexible and 

 hair-like : the dark space which occupies the greater portion of each 

 of the bristles exhibits a changeable metallic lustre, varying in differ- 

 ent positions from deep steel blue to bright copper red. 



The length of the body and head is 17 inches, or measured along 

 the convexity of the back, 20 : of the tail, 9 : of the bead, 4-j- : of the 

 fore-leg, 34- 5 tarsus and toes, I4- : of the femur, 4-J-j tibia, 4-J-; tarsus 

 and toes, 3-£- : the ear, nearly concealed by the bristly covering, is 

 l£ long, and 1 inch broad. 



Mr. Boyle states that this animal " is called by some the Ground- 

 Pig, by others, the Ground- Rat. It feeds upon ground nuts, Cassada, 

 and other roots. On the passage homewards it ate potatoes, and was 

 becoming very docile." 



