174 THE KANGAROOS 



As presenting the most perfect dentition I will 

 begin with the genus 



JHYPSIPRYMNUS. 



Section 1. Hypsiprymni with the head consider- 

 ably elongated and narrow, the ears small and round- 

 ed, the muffle * naked not only in front, but with 

 the hairless portion considerably extended on the 

 upper surface of the muzzle ; tail covered with scales 

 like that of a rat, and with short stiff hairs springing 

 from between them, these being not sufficiently 

 numerous to hide the scales. Canine tooth mode- 

 rately developed, and separated from the incisors by 

 a considerable interval. In the two species described 

 in this work, the space between the canine and the 

 incisors is about equal to the width of the two pos- 

 terior incisors taken together; tarsi short; fore-limbs 

 rather strong ; the true molars are proportionately 

 narrower in the species of this, than in those of the 

 next section, and the foremost compressed molar, 

 (which is the analogue of the carnassier) is less 

 distinctly fluted, or grooved, externally. 



To this section belongs the Hypsiprymnus murinus, 

 the animal which Illiger gives as the type of his genus 

 Hypsiprymnus. Mr. Gray restricts the name to this 

 section. 



* The extreme point of the muzzle, which in Quadrupeds 

 is generally naked, as in the Dog. 



