/ 



OULQ. 



(il'M -KI-SINS. 



im 



the women dre their hair with its white pnw*. which they reckon A 

 gnat ornament. The fur, he adds, is greatly esteemed in Kurope, and 

 h* remarks that the skins of the north of Kurope and Asia, which 

 an sometimes to be seen in the furriers' shops, are infinitely finer, 

 blacker, and more glossy than those from America. Sir John Richard- 

 son says that the fur of the American Glutton bean a great similarity 

 to that of the black bear, but that it is not so long nor of so much 

 value. 



The head of this animal is broad and compact, suddenly rounded 

 off on every side to form the nose ; jaws resembling those of a dog in 

 shape ; back arched ; tail low and busby ; legs thick and short : whole 

 aspect indicating strength without much activity. Fur generally 

 dark -brown, passing in the height of winter almost into black. A pale 

 reddish-brown band, more or less distinct, and sometimes fading into 

 soiled brownish-white, commences behind the shoulder, and running 

 along the flanks turns up on the hip and unites with its fellow on the 

 rump; the short tail thickly covered with long black hair; some 

 white markings, not constant in size or number, on the throat and 

 between the fore legs ; legs brownish-black ; claws strong and sharp. 



Sir John Richardson, from whose work (' Fauna Boreali-Americana') 

 the above description is taken, adds that the animal places its feet on 

 the ground much in the manner of a bear, and imprints a track on 

 the enow or sand, which is often mistaken for that of the bear by 

 Europeans on their first arrival in the Fur Countries ; but the Indians 

 distinguish the tracks at the first glance by the length of the steps. 

 It has the following dimensions : 



Feet. Inches. 



Length of head and body 2 6 



Length of tail (vertebra) 07 



Length of tail with fur 010 



The Orison, Gulo riltatut of Desmarest, Vivtrra vMata of Schreber 

 and Omelin, Lulra riltala of Traill, L'rtta BratUteatu of Thunberg, and 

 Oalietu viltala of Bell. The anatomy of this animal has been made 

 known to us by Mr. Martin, who, in the ' Zoological Proceedings ' for 

 1833, states the results of the post mortem examination of a male which 

 had been kept in the Oardeus at the Regent's Park. The animal, 

 from the nose to the insertion of the tail, measured 1 foot 6 inches, 

 and the tail was 64 inches in length. The intestines, as in the 

 Muitclidct generally, exhibited no division into small and large, except 

 that the rectum became gradually increased in circumference ; their 

 total length was 4 feet 5 inches. The stomach, when moderately 

 inflated, measured 10J inches in its greatest circumference, 13 along 

 its greater, and 4 inches along its lesser curve. The omentum was thin 

 and irregularly puckered together. At about 5 inches from the 

 anus commenced a group of thickly crowded mucous follicles, occupy- 

 ing a space of 4 inches in length. The anus was furnished with two 

 glands, each of the size of a nutmeg, and containing a fluid of the 

 consistence and colour of liquid honey, and of a most intolerable 

 odour : the orifice or duct of these glands opened just within the 

 verge of the anus. The liver was tripartite, the middle portion being 

 divided into one large and one small lobe ; on the under side of the 

 large lobe, in a deep furrow, was situated the gall-bladder, of a moder- 

 ate size and somewhat elongated form. The biliary secretion entered 

 the duodenum an inch and a half below the pylorus. The pancreas was 

 long, flat, and narrow ; beginning in a curved form near the pylorus, 

 and following the course of the duodenum for about 4 inches. The 

 spleen, tongue-ahaped, was loosely attached to the stomach and 6 inches 

 in length. The lungs consisted of three right and two left lobes. 

 The heart was of an obtuse figure, measuring an inch and a half in length 

 and an inch in breadth. The primary branches of the aorta were, 1st, 

 a right branch, or arteria innominate, which, running for a quarter of 

 an inch, gave off the two carotids and the right sub-clavian ; and, 

 2nd, a left branch, passing to form the right subclavian. The 

 epiglottis was acuminate, and in close approximation to the tongue, 

 which was tolerably smooth, with a crescent of distinct fossulate 

 papilloi at its base. The os hyoides waa united by a succession of 

 four bones on each side to the skull. The kidneys were of an oval 

 form, the right being half its length higher than the left ; length of 

 each an inch and a half. The tubuli entered the pelvis of the kidney by a 

 ingle large conical papilla. Supra-renal glands small. The testos 

 each as large as a small nutmeg; the cremaster muscle, embracing the 

 spermatic cord as it emerges from the ring, very distinct The penis 

 had bei-n injured in removing the skin of the animal ; its length from 

 the pubes was about 34 inches, and its muscles were very distinct It 

 contained, as in the dog, a slender bone, 1 J inch long, rather stout at 

 it* commencement, then narrowing as it proceeded till near the apex, 

 when it suddenly bent at an obtuse angle, giving off at this part two 

 small processes. The distance of the prostate from the bladder was 

 an inch and a half. 



The habits of the Orison are very sanguinary, and it is a great 

 destroyer of the smaller quadrupeds. It inhabits the greater part of 

 South America, but more particularly Ouyana and Paraguay. Dr. 

 Rennger note* both it and Oulo barbarm among the plantigrade 

 Oanmnra of Paraguay, where both species are called Yaguape. 



The head is rather large ; ears broad and short Body very much 

 elongated ; for above deep brown, each hair tipped with white, which 

 give* a gray or hoary aspect to the upper psrts. A broad white line 



passing on each side of the front to the shoulders. Nose, throat, under- 

 side of body, thighs, and legs, black. Length about 2 feet. 





Oriwn (Gulo rit(alta). 



There is a notice in the 'Zoological Proceedings' for 1830-31 of the 

 exhibition of a living quadruped referrilile to Gulo bnrbaria. It was 

 presented to the Society by Edmonstono Hodgkinson, Esq., of Trinidad, 

 who described it as being " playful and gentle, although easily i 

 and very voracious. It is exceedingly strong, as is indicated by its 

 shape; and it baa the same antipathy to water as a cat" Mi. 

 Hodgkinson suspected it to be a native of Peru. He obtained it in 

 Venezuela, where it was presented to him by the president, General 

 Paez. The name he received with it was the Guache ; but this 

 appellation, it was observed by Mr. Bennett, was probably erroneously 

 applied to the present animal, belonging rather to the Coati, the 

 orthography of which is variously given as Coati, Couati, Quaeje, 

 Quachi, and Guachi. The latter form, it is remarked, occurs ih the 

 ' Personal Narrative ' of the Baron Von Humboldt, where it evidently 

 refers to a nocturnal species of Natua. The form and general appear- 

 ance of the animal were remarked to be altogether those of a Miulela, 

 to which genus, it was observed, it should probably be referred, 

 together with the typical Gulo barbarui. A specimen of the latter 

 was placed upon the table, from which the living animal was shown 

 to differ by the absence of the large yellow spot beneath the n< 

 remarkable distinction in this group, but on the occurrence of which, 

 unless confirmed by several specimens, it was considered improper t-< 

 propose regarding it as a distinct species. 



There is a figure and description of the Galera, referred to by Lin- 

 ntcus for his Mtutela barbara, in Browne's 'Jamaica,' p. 485, tab. 49. 

 Browne calls it the Oalem, or Guinea Fox, and says that it is often 

 brought to Jamaica from the coasts of Guinea (Guyana ?), win re it is 

 a native, and frequent enough about all the negro settlements, 

 he says, of the size of a small rabbit or cat, ana very strong in its fora 

 . liich are much shorter than the hinder. [MusTEUDJB.] 



Fossil Gluttons have been detected in the ossiferous caverns ; Hula 



pefcnM(Qoldfuss), for instance, has been found in those of Uailenreutb, 



and Sundwick, in Westphalia. Professor Kaup also records another 



extinct species, Gulo antalilurianiu (Kaup), from the Epplesheim 



. 



GUM, a vegetable substance frequently met with iu the tissues of 

 plants. It exudes from some plants in large quantities, especially tho 

 species of Acacia [Ar.\n.\], and is collected for commercial and 

 medicinal purposes. [GfM, in ARTS AND Sc. l)iv.] In a pure state 

 gum is clear, and when dry it is brittle like glass. It IB soluble, in 

 water and dilute acids, but not so in ether, alcohol, and volatile and 

 fixed oils. The action of alcohol makes it horny, and it H e..l..ured 

 pale yellow by iodine. Its composition is nearly identical with 

 and dextrine. Bcrzelius makes it C,, H,. O n , and MuM 

 H 10 1(r It closely resembles dextrine, and through it is allied to 

 starch. The substances called Cerasin, Arabin, and Vegetable Mucilage, 

 seem to be modifications of gum. The prineip.il difference between 

 gum and dextrine consist* in the fuel that by tho action of dilute 

 sulphuric acid, or diastase, the latter is converted int.. ^rape-sugar, 

 which is not the case with gum. Gum seems, to originate with 

 dextrine. M Srutcil.] 



GUM-KI'.SINS are substances found in plants in which Cum and 

 Resin are mixed together in various proportions. Some families of 

 plants, as the UmbeUifera, are remarkable for exuding these sub- 

 stance*. Ammoniacum, Assafootida, Sagapenutn, and Galhanmn, are 

 examples. They frequently contain mixed with them a volatile oil 



