CHIRONECTES YAPOCK. 115 



euch eye^ have a complete band of that colour ex- 

 tending entirely across the forehead. In Mr. Nat- 

 terer's specimen the terminal half-inch of the tail 

 only is white ; in Mr. Scott's, on the contrary, the 

 last 4 inches are of this colour : the tail is exactly 

 of the same length as the body; it measured 10 

 inches in the former specimen and 12 in the latter, 

 but Mr. Natterer informs me, that he has other 

 specimens which measure 14 or 15 inches in length. 

 " The teeth of this animal are altogether difFereat 

 from those of the Opossums {T)idelpliys '^ and I am 

 at a loss to reconcile my own observations with those 

 of M. F. Cuvier upon the subject, as given in ' Les 

 Dents des Mammiferes,' p. 73, unless by supposing 

 that there must have been some mistake about the 

 skull referred by M. Cuvier to the Yapock. For my 

 own part, I could not be deceived in this matter, as the 

 skull which I examined had never been extracted 

 from the specimen. The incisors and canines are of 

 the same form and number as in the true Opossums, 

 the two middle incisors above bein^ rather longer 

 than the lateral, those below broader and a little 

 separate. The molars are five on each side, two 

 false and three real, both in the upper and under 

 jaws. The first false molar is rather small, and is 

 in contact with the canine, both above and below; the 

 second is half as large again, and both are of a 

 triangular form, with apparently two roots. The 

 three real molars are of the normal form of these 

 teeth among the Opossums. The first of the upper 

 jaw is longer than it is broad, and has four sharp 

 elevated tubercles, with a low heel projecting back- 



