224 THE ffATUBAL HISTOET OP 



The colour of the body is a shining black, In some 

 parts with a purplish lustre, and the texture of the 

 hair is remarkably soft and shining. The face 

 appears as a square mask of bluish- white, which is 

 surrounded by a narrow margin of a purer tinge, and 

 two stripes of the same colour run from the eyes to the 

 temples ; the throat is marked with a white band, 

 and the hands are of the same colour on the outsides, 

 somewhat resembling, and compared by the natives 

 to a pair of white gloves ; the tail is not much longer 

 than the body, and not at all used as a prehensile 

 instrument. 



Eight species of this curious little group are de- 

 scribed, which generally have the same habits, and 

 show a beautiful gradation of both form and manners 

 to some of the small carnivora. We are not sure that 

 this is their proper situation, but prefer following the 

 arrangement of Geoffroy and Desmarest. Any alter- 

 ations which we could now make are only upon in- 

 sufficient grounds. 



The next form which succeeds in the system we 

 have presently adopted, is one of as great singularity, 

 and is yet represented by a single individual, discovered 

 by Humboldt ; it is, 



