110 MAMMALIA. 



Chironectes, Illnj*. 



Did. palmata, Geoff. ; Lutra memina, Bodd. ; La petite Loutre de 

 la Guiane, BufF. Supp. III. xxii. Brown above, with three trans- 

 verse grey bands, interrupted in the middle, and white below ; larger 

 than a Norway rat. 

 All the other Marsupialia inhabit eastern countries, New Holland par- 

 ticularly, a land whose animal population seems chiefly to belong to this 

 family. 



Thylacinus, Temmj-. 



The Thylacini are the largest of this first division. They are distin- 

 guished from the Opossums by the hind feet having no thumb ; a hairy, 

 non-prehensile tail, and two incisors less in each jaw; their molars are of 

 the same number. They consequently have forty-six teeth ; but the ex- 

 ternal edge of the three large ones is projecting and trenchant, almost like 

 the carnivorous tooth of a dog; their ears are hairy, and of a medium size. 

 One species only is known, the 



Did. cynocephala, Harris, Linn. Trans. IX. pi. xix, 1, and Ency. 

 Method., Mammif. Supp. pi. vii, f 3. Size that of a wolf, but stands 

 lower; grey; transverse black stripes on the crupper. It is very 

 carnivorous, and pursues all small quadrupeds. From Van Dieman's 

 Land. 



Phascogale, Temm. 



The same number of teeth as the Thylacini, but the middle incisors are 

 longer than the others, and the back molars more bristled, circumstances 

 whicli approximate them more closely to the Sarigues. They are also 

 allied to them by their small size ; their tail, however, is not prehensile ; 

 their hind thumb, though very short, is still very apparent. 



Did. penicillata, Shaw, Gen. Zool. I. ii, pi. 113; Schreb. CLII. 

 B. L. Ash-coloured; tail furnished with long black hairs; size 

 that of the Norway rat : lives on the trees in New Holland, and pur- 

 sues insects. 



Dasyurus minimus, Geoff., Schreb. pi. 152, B. C. (The Dwarf 

 Phascogalis), Scarcely larger than a mouse ; fur soft and reddish. 

 From the south of Van Diemen's Land. 



Dasyurus, GeoffX. 



Two incisors and four grinders in each jaw less than the Opossums, so 

 that they have only forty-two teeth ; their tail, every where covered with 

 long hairs, is not prehensile. The thumb of the hind foot is reduced to a 

 tubercle, or has even totally disappeared. They are from New Holland, 

 where they feed on insects and dead bodies ; they penetrate into houses, 



* Chironectes, i. e. swimming with hands. 



f Thylacinus, from Thulacos, purse. A species of Thylacinus has also been found 

 in the plaster quarries of Paris. 



X Dasyurus, hairy tail. See Mem. dc M.Geoff., Ann. du Mus. III. p. 353, and 

 XV. p. 301. 



