MARSUPIALIA. 127 



hairs j size that of the Norway Rat : lives on the trees in New 

 Holland, and pursues insects. 



Dasyurus minimus^ Geoif. , Schreb. pi. 1 52, B. C. .(The Dwarf 

 Phascogalis.) Scarcely larger than a mouse, fur soft and red- 

 dish. From the south of Van Dieman's Land. 



Dasyurus, GeofF.(l) 



Two incisors and four grinders in each jaw less than the Opossums, 

 so that they have only forty-two teeth ; their tail, every where cover- 

 ed with long hairs, is not prehensile. The thumb of the hind foot 

 is reduced to a tubercle, or has even totally disappeared. They are 

 from New Holland, where they feed on insects and dead bodies ; 

 they penetrate into houses, where their voracity is very inconvenient, 

 &c. Their mouth is not so wide, their muzzle not so pointed as 

 those of the Opossums j their hairy ears are also shorter. They do 

 not climb trees. 



Did. ursina, Harr. Lin. Trans. IX, xix, f. 2, and Encycl., 

 Supp. f. 6. (The Ursine Opossum.) Long rough black hairs, 

 with some irregularly placed white spots j the tail half as long 

 as the body, almost naked underneath. Inhabits the north of 

 Van Dieman's Land, and is nearly the size of the Badger. 



Das. macrourus, Geoff., Peron. Voy. pi. xxxiii, Schreb. CLII, 

 B, a. (The Long-tailed Dasyurus.) Size of a Cat j tail as 

 long as the body ; fur brov/n, spotted with white, both on the 

 body and tail. The tubercle of the thumb is still well marked 

 in this species, but in the following ones it can no more be 

 seen. 



Das. Maugei, Geoff., Voy. de Freycin. Zool. pi. iv, Schreb. 

 CLII, B, b. A kind of olive colour, spotted with white j no 

 spot on the tail ; a little smaller than the preceding. 



Did. viverrina, Shaw., Gen. Zool. CXI j White, Bot. Bay, 

 App. 285 ; Schreb. CLII, B, c. Black, spotted with white j 

 no spots on the tail ; a third less than the first. 



Perameles, Geoff. (2) Thylacis, Illig. 



The thumb of the hind foot short, like the first Dasyuri, and the 

 two following toes united by the membrane as far as the nails ; 

 the thumb and the little toe of their fore feet are simple tubercles, 

 so that there seem to be but three toes. They have ten incisors 

 above, the external ones separate and pointed, and only six below j 

 but their molars are the same as in the Opossums, so that they have 



(1) Dasyurus, hsLiry tail. See Mem. de M. Geoff., Ann. duMus. Ill, p. 353, and 

 XV, p. 301. 



(2) Fera, purse, Meles, Badger. See Mem. Geoff. Ann. du Mus. torn. IV. 



