FAMILY SORECID^. 13 



Condg'mra Umgieaudatx. RiCHARDSON, F. B. A. p. 13. 



C. TMcrowa. Id. ib. p. 284, pi. 24. 



C. UmgiamdtUa and maemura, Ehmons, Mass. Report, 1840, p. 17. 



Characteristics. Color of a nearly uniform brownish black. Tail more than half the length 

 of the head and body. Length 7. 



Description. Body cylindrical throughout, without any very distinct neck. Fur exceed- 

 ingly dense and fine. Head with a slender elongated muzzle, terminating in a vertical circu- 

 lar disk, of from eighteen to twenty subequal cartilaginous fibres ; of these, the two superior 

 and four inferior are shortest, and not in the same plane with the others. These fibres are 

 0-2 long. The eyes exceedingly minute, and not easily discovered ; but they may be found 

 by examining the space above the angle of the mouth, where three or four rigid subequal 

 hairs are apparent. Whiskers 0*4 long, light-colored at the tips, and curved forwards. A 

 large orifice in place of an external ear, not projecting above the skin. Fore feet short, with 

 broad robust palms ; on their upper surface a series of horny scales, somewhat analagous to 

 those on the feet of birds ; on the edges of the palms, these scales are accompanied with rigid 

 hairs. The interior of the palms with small circular scales. The fingers gradually increase 

 in size to the fourth from the exterior ; the outer equals the second from the interior. The 

 claws are flattened, obtusely pointed, and channelled beneath. Hind feet placed far back, 

 and quite feeble ; the toes distinctly separate and scaly ; the claws long, sharp, compressed, 

 and channelled beneath. Tail sub-cylindrical, sparsely hairy, permitting the scales to be seen 

 beneath, and pencilled at its tip. In cabinet specimens, the tail often appears knotted 

 throughout, and strangulated at its base. The jaws present the remarkable peculiarity of two 

 spoon-shaped incisors above and four beneath. In the upper jaw, on each side of these, are 

 two other incisors, the first of which is long, and resembles a canine tooth ; the other is 

 separated by a small interval from the preceding, is very small, conic and compressed. The 

 incisors of the lower jaw are spoon-shaped, approximated and subequal. The cheek teeth in 

 both jaws vary much in form and size, the first of the lower jaw being long and pointed like 

 a canine tooth. 



Color, throughout of a nearly uniform deep brownish black, varying somewhat according 

 to the light in which it is viewed. The base of all the fur is of a deep slate color ; beneath 

 of a lighter hue, and may be termed ashen or plumbeous. Feet whitish. I have noticed a 

 specimen which was of a uniform soiled white. 



Totallength, 7-5. Hind leg, I'l. 



Length of tail, 2'8. Breadth of palm, 0-4. 



Of fore feet, 0-7. Girth of body, 3-5. 



The name given by Illiger, which was founded on a figure which exhibited the knotted 

 appearance of the tail in a desiccated specimen, and therefore not characteristic, it has been 

 nevertheless found convenient to retain, as designating a remarkable generic type. Pennant, 

 in his Synopsis of Quadrupeds, 1771, published a notice and figure of what he terms the 



