130 



"The ears are long, broad, and ovate, having several semitransparent 

 dots scattered over their surface (the remains of sebaceous glands) . 

 On the anterior extremitjr the nails are much elongated ; the second 

 and third are about ^th of an inch longer than the first ; they are 

 all flattened at the tips, thus furnishing the animal "with a very 

 efficient apparatus for burrowing. The tail offers many differences 

 from that of the other species of the genus Perameles. I'he basal 

 fourth is clothed with hairs about the same length and colour as those 

 of the bod)^. The middle half is black, the hairs on the upper part 

 being elongated ; the remaining part is M'hite, with a ridge of long 

 white stiff hairs forming a crest. 



" The pouch in this specimen (a female) is large, and has 9 nipples 

 on its posterior surface ; one being placed in the centre, and the 

 remainder at equal distances form a circle, the diameter of which is 

 1 inch 3 lines. 



" The skull is perfect, but the state of the skin was such as totally 

 to prevent its removal, and the description is therefore defective in 

 particulars concerning the bones of the face. The interparietal and 

 occipital crests are clearly defined and large. Tlie bulla of the ear 

 is large, and its shape that of a flattened ovoid. The tympanum was 

 entire, and on removing it the manubrium of the malleus was found 

 to be twice the length of its bod}^. The zygomatic arch is imperfect 

 for about the space of ^ an inch. The lower-jaw is slender, with a 

 salient process at its angle. Dent.: Prim, -g-. Can. i^, Mol. spur. 

 1^, Mol. ver. *^. = 48. 



" The two front suj)erior incisors are nearly a line apart, small, and 

 quadrangular ; a small space intervenes between these and the three 

 succeeding, which are larger, and placed in a continuous series. The 

 fourth and fifth incisors are about the same distance from each other 

 as the two anterior. Posterior to the incisors is a space about 5 lines 

 in width, for the reception of the inferior canines. The canines are 

 well developed : another space intervenes between them and the false 

 molars, which latter are all rather widely separated, of a conical 

 shape, and have a small tubercle anterior to the body of the tooth. 



" The molars oi Perameles, as figured by M. F. Cuvier in his 'Dents 

 des Mammifires,' consist of two prisms fixed to a slightly curved 

 base, with the concavity towards the inside of the jaw; but in 

 this species the molars are quadrangular, ha%4ng had but two sets 

 of tubercles, and in the present specimen these teeth are worn 

 down and present a square surface, inclosed by enamel, having a 

 band of the same running transversely across the middle of the tooth. 

 The two last molars of the upper jaw approximate so clDsely, as to 

 require careful examination to detect the line of separation. The 

 teeth of the lower jaw, except in number and in the circumstance of 

 all the incisors forming a continuous series, do not differ from those 

 of the upper. When the jaws are closed, the posterior molars of the 

 upper and lower jaws are in contact. 



"A friend of Mr. Gould's, residing in Western Australia, states that 

 these animals are found beyond the mountains of Swan River, in 



