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CLASS MAMMALIA. 



have five toes, but in the hind feet the little toe and the 

 thumb are extremely short ; the nails are conical, thick, 

 strong, and fitted for digging ; the tail is little else than a 

 naked tubercle perfectly motionless. 



The external ear is round and moderate ; the eye-pupil is 

 round; the tongue is short, soft, and thick ; the upper lip 

 is cleft ; the inside of the mouth is furnished with pouches, 

 and the zygomatic arch is very much enlarged lengthwise ; 

 the skin of the cheek folds under the bone, and presents 

 a deep concavity, which is unexampled in any other qua- 

 druped; the object of this, it is not easy to see, unless 

 it be to preserve the pouches more completely ; strong 

 moustaches proceed from the sides of the muzzle, and 

 behind the eyes. 



The fur is very short, and harsh, of a dingy brown colour 

 on all the upper parts of the body, but varied with four 

 ranges of parallel white spots, commencing at the shoulders 

 and terminating at the buttocks ; these spots are so close 

 together, that when viewed in certain positions, they have 

 the appearance of an uninterrupted line, and the lowest 

 series is nearly blended with the colour of the belly, which 

 is white, as are also the under jaw, a part of the internal 

 side of the limbs, and the nails. It measures, from nose to 

 tail, about two feet. 



The Paca is very like the Agouti in the general make of 

 its body, as well as in its organs- These two genera have 

 the same system of dentition ; nearly the same organs of 

 sense, both are without clavicles, and though they differ in 

 the number of toes on the hind feet, this is no very im- 

 portant character. It is in the cheek-pouches, and the fold 

 of skin under the zygomatic arch, the general form of the 

 head, and in the fur, that these animals differ essentially. 



In its natural or wild state, the Paca digs burrows in 

 the earth, in the neighbourhood of forests, and provides for 

 its necessities by nocturnal excursions. In a state of 



