No. 586] EARLY PORTRAYALS OF THE OPOSSUM 



593 



their contributions on Brazilian natural history, pub- 

 lished in 1648, are recognized as highly meritorious. 



Ulysses Aldrovandi 's large posthumous folio on Quad- 

 rupeds (1637, p. 10.')) also contains a figure of the opos- 

 sum (otherwise interpreted, however) which is clearly 

 traceable to the early carto- 

 graphic designs. But it is unnec- 

 essary to pursue the subject fur- 

 ther, except to state that Fig. 7 is 

 copied after Charles Cesar de 

 Rochefort's engraving of an opos- 

 sum ( 1 ' Histoire des lies Antilles, ' ' 

 1658), and Fig. 8 shows the same 

 animal, acording to Eduard Sel- 

 er's interpretation, as depicted in 

 one of the Maya Codices (Nuttall, 



Among other mammalian fig- tion of the opounm ( ?') From 

 ures in pre-Columbian Maya and \tZ*! n. ' ymt:in 

 Mexican colored drawings 5 that 



have been preserved are several that represent a spotted 

 dog, probably one of the varieties of "Alcos" mentioned 

 by Hernandez. The occurrence of an indigenous spotted 

 dog in Central America is of interest in view of the fact 

 that a similar race is depicted in ancient Egyptian, As- 

 syrian and Pelasgian animal effigies and paintings, some 

 of the figures dating as far back as about 3000 b.c. 



The oldest known representations of the hunting dog 

 of the ancient Egyptians, together with a number of 

 large African mammals, are inscribed in a palette dis- 

 covered a few years ago at Hierakonpolis. 



