34 On a new Genus of Mammalia. 



to the obesjila the teeth of the na.mta. I do not thhvk that 

 I have been more deceived by analogy on this occasmn than 

 before. The or2;ans of motion are too perfectly similar ui 

 the two perameles for the organs of mastication not to be 

 the same. The relation which always exists between them 

 is well known. 



The obesula, in the proportions of its body, resembles the 

 precedins:;. The only difterence is, that its head is shorter, 

 and, if I can trust the drawing now before me, a little 

 more arched ; the ears are broader, and entirely rounded ; 

 the hair is also mixed with some of a silky te?:ture, which 

 is blackish at the extremity ; the colour in general is yellow, 

 inclining to russet, and the belly is white. 



[ refer to this species, but with some doubt, an indi- 

 \ idual in the collection of the Museum of Natural History, 

 which was brought also from New Holland. It came to 

 me in a bad state of preservation, without the tail and some 

 of the toes : it is more than double the size of the ohemla. 

 It resembles it in its rounded cars, its short muzzle, and 

 tiie colour of the hair, which inclines, however, a little 

 more to bvov.n ; its head also is not so much arched. 



I caused the cranium to be engraved, that it might be 

 compared with that of the na.mta. The difference in their 

 proportions is striking : the last of the incisors above is 

 much nearer that which precedes it, and the first molars 

 are perfectly triangular and contiguous. Those in the 

 bottom of the mouth have their crown very much wornj 

 which might give reason to believe that this peramele 15 

 more carnivorous than the other. The last incisor below 

 is scarcely lobed ; the interval which separates it from the 

 canine tooth has only the thickness of one tooth, &c. all 

 characters by which the cranium differs from that of the 

 Perameles nasuta. 



Explanation of the Plates, 



A, the cranium of the Perameles nasuta. B, a hind 

 foot. ' C, a fore foot. D, extremity of the lower jaw. 

 Ej extremity of the upper. 



VL Memoir 



