THE PERAMELES NASUTA. 
195 
mother. This organ has been found also in the males of 
some other genera ; and Daubenton observed the pouch on 
the young female Opossums still within the marsupium of 
the mother. Projecting from the fore part of the anus, was 
seen a slender white penis, about a line in length, and bi- 
furcated at its extremity, like the glans penis of some other 
marsupial animals. The tail was a line and a half in length, 
and like a fine thread. The head, trunk, and extremities 
were quite soft and flexible, no bones being yet formed in 
the body. The claws were scarcely perceptible on the 
points of the toes, which appeared like buds on the extre- 
mities. 
The teeth, which vary more in marsupial animals than 
in any other Order of quadrupeds, present important cha- 
racters for the distinction of the species, and help to point 
out the kind of food on w^hich th^y naturally subsist. 
Those of the Perameles nasuta are correctly stated by 
GeofFroy to be, Incis. ^-^ ; Can. f ; Mol. ; but he has 
represented them rather larger than natural, particularly 
the canine teeth, in his figure of this animal {Avm, du Mus. 
torn. iv. pi. 44.) On each side of the upper jaw there are 
five small sharp incisors ; one curved, pointed, canine tooth ; 
and seven grinders. The first four of these incisors are in 
close contact with each other, and scarcely project half a 
line from their sockets. The fifth incisor^ likewise inserted 
into the intermaxillary, or incisor bone, is two lines distant 
from the fourth incisor, and at the same distance from the 
canine tooth. The canine tooth is double the length of the 
incisors, projects a line beyond its socket, has a sharp, 
compressed, conical form, slightly curved backwards, and 
is also separated by an empty space of two lines from the 
first grinder. The first three grinders are compressed like 
the canine tooth, have a single longitudinal row of three 
sharp tubercles, the middle tubercle of each tooth being 
