490 
PORCULINE OPOSSUM. 
Didelphis Obesula. D. subferrugineat suhtus albescens, cauda 
longiuscula, pedibus anticis pentadactylis, ungue exterior e utrin- 
que bremssimo, posticis tetradactylis, digitis interioribus unitis. 
Subferruginous Opossum, whitish beneath, with longish tail ; 
the fore feet pentadactylous, with very small exterior claws : 
the hind feet tetradactylous, with the two interior toes united. 
Naturalisfs Miscellany , No. 96. t, 298. 
A SPECIMEN of this is preserved in Mr. Hun- 
ter's Museum. It is about the size of a half- 
grown domestic rat, and is remarkable for a thicker 
or more corpulent habit than most others of the 
genus. The hind legs are considerably longer 
than the fore legs, and have in miniature the 
form of those of the Kangaroo and some other 
Australasian quadrupeds ; though the middle claws 
are far less in proportion : the interior ones are 
double, or both covered by a common skin. The 
colour of this species is a pale yellow-brown, paler 
and inclining to whitish beneath : and its hair is 
of a coarser or more harsh appearance than in the 
rest of the small Opossums : the ears are round- 
ed : the tail rather long. When viewed in a cur- 
sory manner, the animal bears a distant resem-' 
blance to a pig in miniature. 
