MAMMALIA. 
91 
three others furnished with sharp tubercles ; head long and coni¬ 
cal, and the muzzle acute; ears large, rounded, and nearly 
naked; tongue aculeated. They are plantigrade in their loco¬ 
motion ; feet with five toes, with long and bent nails ; thumbs 
of the hind feet long, opposable to the fingers, and without 
nails ; tail long, half hairy and scaly; hair hard and close ; 
stomach simple. Inhabits America. 
* Females having an abdominal pouch. 
Didelphis Virginiana.— The Virginian Opossum, or 
Saragoy. 
Plate IX. fig. 8. 
Fur with black and white bars, partly black and partly white ; 
of a silky texture. Size of a rabbit. Inhabits the temperate 
parts of America. 
** Females without an abdominal pouch. 
Didelphis murina. —The Murine Opossum. 
Plate XVII. fig. 5. 
Fur yellow-gray above, very pale yellow beneath; eyes sur¬ 
rounded with brown ; tail as long as the body and naked. In¬ 
habits Cayenne and Surinam. 
Genus 2. — Chironectes.— Illiger. 
Generic Character .—Incisors 1 8 °, canines the number 
of grinders unknown; cheek teeth pointed and cutting; ears 
naked; feet round, with five toes ; nails sharp and bent; the 
posterior feet plantigrade and palmated ; thumb without a nail ; 
tail long, cylindrical, prehensile, naked and covered with scales. 
Female with an abdominal pouch. 
Chironectes palmata. — The Yapock. 
Plate XVII. fig. 6. 
Fur brown above, with three transverse gray patches or 
