111 



and retlring. It seldom makes ils appearance but in the night time, 

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

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



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

 much to the knovvledge 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 atlained 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 foUovving amended generic 

 character : 



Aulacodus, Van Swind. 

 Dentes incisores į-, antice plani, scalpro cuneato, superiores profundt 

 bisulcati : molares 4 4, lamellares : sacculi buccales O : pedes an- 

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

 prcEter pollicis subplanum, falculares, fories, superne rotundati, 

 infrcL dilatati sulcdii : cauda pitosa, viediocris, attenuata. 

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

 upper ja\v are situated nearer to the inner than to the outer edge of 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 terior three are nearly sąuare ; the posterior some\vhat 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 javv the first molar has three folds of 

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

 and one small foid 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. Thissystem 

 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 Swinderia7ius is peculiar, consisting 

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

 from 1 to 1-į- inch in length, the tips only of vvhich are flexible and 

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

 of the bristles exhibits achangeable metallic lustre, varying in difFer- 

 ent positions from deep steel blue to bright copper red. 



The lengih of the body and head is 1 7 inches, or measured along 

 the convexii;y of the back, 20 : of the tail, 9 : of the head, 4-į- : of the 

 fore-leg, 34- j tarsus and toes, 1-}^ : of the femur, 4i; tibia, 4į^; tarsus 

 and toes, 34- : the ear, nearly concealed by the bristly covering, is 

 lį- long, and 1 inch broad. 



Mr. Boyle statės 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 homevvards it ate potatoes, and was 

 becoming very docile." 



