131 



the district of York. They feed apou lavge maggots and tlie roots 

 of trees, and do considerable damage to the maize and potato crops 

 by burrowing. A specimen kept by him in confinement becaine in 

 a few days very docile, but ■vvas irritable, and resented the slightest 

 afFront or ill usage. It took bread, which it held in its fore-pa\vs. 

 A young one to •vsrhich it gare birth unfortunately escaped, after 

 being carried in the mother's pouch for several days." 



Mr. Reid considers the distinctions between this and the ręst of 

 the species belonging to the genus Perameles so marked, that should 

 more of the šame forra be discovered, the above characteis wouId 

 constitute a subgenus to which the name of Mucrotis might be 

 applied. 



Mr. "VVaterhouse exhibited a second specimen of Myrmecobius, 

 and directed the attention of the Meeting to certain differences ex- 

 isting betvveen it and the one upon which he had founded the cha ■ 

 racters of the genus, and described under the specific name of 'fas- 

 ciatus.' 



The present animal difFers from the one previously described in 

 having the black and fulvous colouiing of the back less decided, 

 owing to a larger proportion of interspersed ■n'hite hairs. Thefasciae, 

 instead of being white, are of a yellowish cream-colour, and they als?o 

 difFer in number and arrangement. Commencing from the tail, the 

 three first are distinct and uninterrupted, the intermediate spaces 

 being about į an inch in Avidth, black, with "white hairs interspersed, 

 and a few of an ochraceous colour. 1'he fourth is also distinct, but 

 instead of being continued across the back, it is met b)' t\vo fascise 

 from the opposite side. The two following are continuous, but less 

 distinct than either of the foregoing. Beyond these, the fasciae are 

 almost obsolete, there being only faint indications of them on the 

 sides of the body. 



Tlie most important distinction, hoM-ever, exists in the teeth, th.e 

 present specimen possessing altogether foiir more molars tlian the 

 one brought before the notice of the Society on a previous occasion. 

 The entire number of teeth is 52, (26 in each ja\v), and the 5 posterior 

 molars are placed closely together, differing in that respect from 

 those of the previously examined specimen. 



Tlie animal was brought from Van Diemen's Land, and očhers 

 similar to it vėre obsen^ed scratching at the roots of trees, and 

 feeding upon the insects vvhich are generally abundant in such situ- 

 ations. Their favourite haunts are stated to be the localities in 

 which the Port Jackson willow is most plentiful. 



Mr. Waterhouse remarked that although the differences betwcen 

 the two animals were considerable, yet he did not consider the di- 

 stinctions such as to justify his characterizing the one then before 

 the Meeting as a second species. 



A Paper vas then read by William Ogilby, Esq., with a view of 

 pointing out the charactcrs to which the most importancc should be 

 attachcd in establishing generic di-stinctions among the Buminantia. 



