TUPAIA TANA. 



Inches. Lines. 



Length of the body 7 



the tail 6 6 



the anterior extremities 3 



the posterior extremities 4 2^ 



Regarding the system of dentition of the Tupaia tana, it should be noted that, 

 although it agrees with the other species in all essential characters, it possesses 

 certain peculiarities, which I shall proceed to enumerate with accuracy. In the 

 upper jaw, the front teeth are proportionally large, and have a slight inclination at 

 the extremity. The canine teeth are more hooked than in the other species. Of 

 the grinders, the three first do not terminate in an obtuse triturating surface, as in 

 Tupaia javanica, but are gradually attenuated to a point, which in the second and 

 third tooth is sharp and elevated. They are all considerably compressed at the base. 

 The lacerative points, projecting from the crown of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and 

 seventh grinders, are long, and have the same disposition as in Tupaia javanica ; but 

 the triturating surfaces of the fifth and sixth are less extensive. In the specimen 

 from which the description was made, the intermediate front teeth alone, in the 

 lower jaw, were perfect; but of the two others, on each side, the rudiments remained 

 sufficiently evident. The canine tooth is proportionally longer and more hooked 

 than in the Tupaia ferruginea and Tvipaia javanica. The fiirst grinder is acute, 

 slightly hooked, and shorter than the canine tooth ; the second is obscure ; the third 

 is considerably elevated, broad at the base, and compressed with a small anterior and 

 posterior heel ; the fourth is somewhat larger than the fifth, but both agree in their 

 construction ; they have individually three sharp points projecting from the crown ; 

 the sixth is smaller, and presents three less elevated points. From these details, and 

 from the comparative view which is afforded on the Plate of Illustrations, in Letter I 

 and in Letter O, it appears that the Tupaia tana is distinguished from the Tupaia 

 javanica by a greater length of its canine teeth, and of the lacerating points in all 

 the grinders. This character is undoubtedly accommodated to its habits, and shews it 

 to be more exclusively adapted to animal food than the Bangsring. 



An elongation of the rostrum or mvizzle is characteristic of aU the species of 

 this genus, but in Tupaia tana this character exists in the greatest degree. In 

 Tupaia javanica the rostrum is shorter than the head; in Tupaia ferruginea it is nearly 

 of the same length ; but in Tupaia tana it is one third longer. This elongation gives 

 a very peculiar physiognomy to our animal, and in consequence of the length of the 

 jaw, the interstices between the teeth are greater than in the other species ; this 

 appears distinctly in the profile of the head given on the Plate of Illustrations. The 

 attenuation of the rostrum is almost uniform from the crown of the head to its 



