ORDER CARNASSIER. 215 



agrees with our animal, in having, in both jaws, single 

 well-defined canine teeth ; but the incisors of Tupaia differ 

 essentially from those of all other animals of this family. 

 As far as regards the rostrum of Tupaia, it should be ob- 

 served, that although it is long and tapering, the upper 

 jaw projects beyond the lower, and is not extended into a 

 naked proboscis, which constitutes a peculiar character as 

 well in Sorex and Mygale, as in other sub-genera of this 

 family. Of other characters, it should be noticed that the 

 eyes, in most of the insectivora, are minute, or scarcely 

 perceptible, while in Tupaia they are large and prominent. 

 The structure of the external ear is also entirely different 

 in our animal ; in Sorex, for instance, in which this organ 

 is most developed, the antitragus is enlarged to such a de- 

 gree as to close the meatus auditorius, while the helix has 

 a similar disposition, and can be folded over it as a double 

 membrane. In Tupaia, on the contrary, it is in the tragus, 

 which is so constructed as to afford a covering to the exter- 

 nal passage, while the antitragus is a simple eminence 

 in the cavity of the ear; the helix constitutes a narrow 

 border, forming an extensive circuit about the auditory 

 passage, and can only be elevated to regulate the admission 

 of sound, without affording an additional covering as it 

 <loes in Sorex. Tupaia is further destitute of these glands, 

 which in Sorex and Mygale are placed in the sides of the 

 body, or at the root of the tail, which by their odoriferous 

 secretion, constitute a very peculiar character. 



The form and habit of the body, the length and structure 

 of the extremities, and the broadness of the tail, give to 

 Tupaia a physiognomy entirely different from that of the 

 insectivores hitherto named, and which have led to its asso- 

 ciation with the Squirrel. 



Notwithstanding, however, these aberrations from a 

 common type, the teeth, and influential characters of these 

 siewly-discovered animals, are all, generally speaking, insec- 



