138 MAMMALIA. 
that of the preceding; tail three-fourths as long as the body. 
It lives in troops in the prairies of North America. 
There is one found in the Indian Archipelago, that is nearly 
the size of a Cat; the male of a fine lively maronne above, and 
red underneath 3 the female brown above and whitish under- 
neath. It is the 
Sc. petaurista, L.; Buff. Supp. III, xxi, and VU, Ixvii. (The 
Taguan.) The same place produces another small one, the 
Sc. sagitta, L. A deep brown above; white beneath ; distin- 
guished from other species, the small ones especially, by its 
membrane, which, as in the Taguan, forms an extremely acute 
projecting angle behind the tarsus.(1) 
M. Geoffroy has very properly separated from this genus the 
Cuerromys, Cuy. (2) 
Or the Aye-Ayes, whose inferior incisors, much more compressed, 
and above all, more extended from front to back, resemble plough- 
shares. Each foot has five toes, of which four of the anterior are 
excessively elongated, the medius being more slender than the 
others ; in the hind feet the thumb is opposable to the other toes 3 
so that they are in this respect among the Rodentia, what the Opos- 
sums are among the Carnaria. The structure of their head is 
otherwise very different from that of the other Rodentia, and is re- 
lated to the Quadrumana in more points than one. 
There is only one species of the Aye-Aye known. It was dis- 
covered at Madagascar by Sonnerat. Itis the Cheir. Madagas- 
cariensis ; Sc. Madagascar., Gm.; Buff. Supp. VII, Ixviii. (The 
Aye-Aye.) Size of a Hare, of a brown colour, mixed with yel- 
low ; tail long and thick, with stout black bristles; ears large 
and naked. It is a nocturnal animal, to which motion seems 
painful; it burrows under ground, and uses its slender toe to 
convey food to its mouth. 
Linneus and Pallas united in one single group, under the name of 
Mus, Lin., 
All the Rodentia furnished with clavicles, which they could not dis- 
tinguish by some very sensible external character, such as the tail 
of the Squirrel or that of the Beaver, from which resulted the utter 
impossibility of assigning to them any common character; the 
greater number had merely pointed lower incisors, but even this was 
subject to exceptions. 
(1) Add Pt. hudsonius, Gm. Am. Ed. WEYTeT P 
(2) Chetromys, arat with hands. . 
