218 RODENTIA. 



edges to the side of pelvis by a thin membrane. They are flat, and 

 serrated on their inner edges. The prostate gland x The mem- 

 branous part of the urethra is long. 



[The Acouchy (Dasyprocta Acouchy, Erxl.).] 

 U Agouti, Buffon, vol. viii. p. 380. 



An animal that Mr. Rymsdyk has made two paintings of ; one to 

 show its manner of eating, the other its walking or standing, or rather 

 the general shape of the animal 2 . 



This animal is larger than a guinea-pig, but not so large as the 

 smallest rabbit ; it has more of the guinea-pig than the rabbit ; for 

 instance, its ears are short ; its head is larger in proportion to the body ; 

 its legs are bare, or rather not covered with that long hair ; its toes are 

 almost quite bare : these two last circumstances are more remarkable 

 than in the guinea-pig itself. Its hind-legs are considerably longer 

 than the fore, which is the case with both the rabbit and guinea-pig, 

 but it is not so much so as in the rabbit, although more so than in the 

 guinea-pig. It commonly sits on its posteriors, and seldom straightens 

 its back, but most commonly has it curved. There are three toes on 

 the hind-foot ; and they are a good deal in shape like some of the 

 short-toed birds, viz. the stork: there are four toes on the fore-foot, 

 with a little knob on the outside of the foot, which has a nail upon it : 

 these toes bend like the bird's, but do not throw themselves into zigzag 

 lines, when in the most easy position, as they do in the dog, &c. The 

 animal has a rotatory motion in the radius. It has a short tail, with 

 no hair upon it. Its hair is strong, more like the hair of a hog, and 

 like that animal is very thin : each hair is of two colours, viz. in some 

 parts black or dark, and in others of a yellowish brown. It is an 

 awkward walker, sometimes hopping like a rabbit, at other times walk- 

 ing ; but in the walk the hind-legs are much bent to proportion them- 

 selves to the fore-legs, and the back is very much rounded. Its food 

 is rather bordering upon that of the squirrel. 



The Ever is divided into four lobes besides the lobulus Spigelii ; the 



1 [This, with the other accessory glands, is preserved in the Hunt. Prep. No. 2497, 

 showing the termination of their ducts.] 



2 [This painting, now in the Royal College of Surgeons, and the skeleton, No. 

 2046, Osteol. Series, show that the species was the Acouchy, which is figured in the 

 ' Supplement,' No. iii. (1776), p. 211, tab. 36, of Buffon's great work. Hunter's 

 specimen would appear from the MS. of the Old Catalogue, p. 34, now in Mus. 

 Coll. Chir., to have been dissected in the early part of 1789.] 



