THE COIPtJS. 303 



The head is large, thick, and depressed on the top, the eyes 

 being small, and placed so as to be above the water while the 

 animal is swimming, and approximating to each other ; the 

 ears are small and rounded, the moustaches long and wiry, 

 the incisor teeth large, strong, and of a fine orange yellow. 

 Posterior to the upper incisors there is a hairy palate, or space, 

 which makes it seem as if those teeth pierced the upper lip ; 

 the fact is, that this hairy anterior palate is thus constructed 

 in order that the incisors, which both above and below are 

 always exposed, may work freely on rough bark or hard 

 materials, without injury to the palate, or that rough sticks 

 or pieces of wood may be grasped between the palate and 

 lower incisors and carried to the burrow. 



The anterior limbs are short, but very strong ; the toes are 

 five on each foot, armed with strong nails ; the posterior feet 

 are large and spreading ; the toes are five in number, armed, 

 as those of the fore-feet, with large claws ; but with the ex- 

 ception of the outer toe, which is free, the rest are connected 

 together by extensive webs. The tail is long, round, scaly, 

 and very thinly clothed with stiff hairs. In size, the Coipus 

 is smaller than the beaver, but considerably larger than the 

 ondatra, or musquash, of the northern regions of America ; 

 having the head and body about one foot eleven inches in 

 length, that of the tail being one foot three inches. 



Both Molina* and Azzara notice the gentleness and inoffen- 

 sive habits of the Coipus, and the attachment which it mani- 

 fests in captivity to those who feed and caress it. It is easily 

 domesticated, and never resents ill usage. It utters no noise 

 unless when hurt ; its voice then consists of a piercing cry. 

 We have ascertained, by dissection, that the larynx, or rather 

 the glottis, is received into the posterior nares, which are con- 

 tinued backward in the form of a funnel-like cavity ; so that 

 breathing is carried on solely through the nostrils, a point 

 of great importance to an animal of aquatic habits, whose 

 under jaw and exposed teeth are beneath the surface of the 

 water while in the act of swimming, the nostrils being just 

 elevated above. Such a structural arrangement, however, of 



