ORDER CARNASSIER. 267 



in the Aletes, so that it may be considered as an organ 

 of motion, without being one of touch. The eyes are 

 simple, and the pupil is round, but it contracts to such a 

 degree, under the influence of light, that its diameter is re- 

 duced to scarcely a quarter of a line. The ears are rounded, 

 have no lobules, and are very simple in their internal tu- 

 bercles. The nostrils are small, open on the sides of the 

 muzzle, and bear a very close resemblance to those of a 

 dog. The tongue is narrow, thin, very smooth, and of a 

 most disproportioned length. This has led to the supposi- 

 tion of some new organic peculiarities in its muscles. In 

 other particulars, the organs of taste appear unaccompanied 

 by any accessory part. The fur is composed of silky and 

 of woolly hairs, but both are of the same length, and very 

 difficult to be distinguished from each other. These hairs 

 are rather short, very numerous, [and so pressed against 

 each other, that their direction cannot be distinguished by 

 the eye. To the touch, they appear, along the back and 

 sides, to lie from rear to front. On the tail and limbs, 

 they pursued the usual directions, and all the parts of the 

 body are equally covered with them, except the anterior 

 part of the muzzle, the external conch of the ear, the sole 

 of the feet, and palms of the hands, which are naked. This 

 animal had no mustachios. There are but two teats, which 

 are inguinal. The incisives are six in number, in each 

 jaw, and the canines two. Neither possess any peculiarity, 

 except a few longitudinal striae or grooves. There are five 

 molars ; the two first which follow the canines, after a 

 little interval, are, especially in the lower jaw, small and 

 pointed, and have all the characters of false molars. The 

 three following are tuberculous ; in the upper jaw, their 

 coronal is nearly rounded, and a circle and border of ena- 

 mel surrounds it. On their external edge, however, two 

 tubercles are observable, which seem to be unworn re- 

 mains of the tooth. Of these teeth, the middle is the 



