TUPAIA TANA. 
Inches. Line*. 
Length of the body 7 0 
the tail 6 6 
the anterior extremities 3 0 
the posterior extremities 4 %\ 
Regarding the system of dentition of the Tupaia tana, it should be noted that, 
although it agrees with the other species in all essential characters, it possesses 
certain peculiarities, which I shall proceed to enumerate with accuracy. In the 
upper jaw, the front teeth are proportionally large, and have a slight inclination at 
the extremity. The canine teeth are more hooked than in the other species. Of 
the grinders, the three first do not terminate in an obtuse triturating surface, as in 
Tupaia javanica, but are gradually attenuated to a point, which in the second and 
third tooth is sharp and elevated. They are all considerably compressed at the base* 
The lacerative points, projecting from the crown of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and 
seventh grinders, are long, and have the same disposition as in Tupaia javanica ; but 
the triturating surfaces of the fifth and sixth are less extensive. In the specimen 
from which the description was made, the intermediate front teeth alone, in the 
lower jaw, were perfect; but of the two others, on each side, the rudiments remained 
sufficiently evident. The canine tooth is proportionally longer and more hooked 
than in the Tupaia ferruginea and Tupaia javanica. The first grinder is acute, 
slightly hooked, and shorter than the canine tooth ; the second is obscure ; the third 
is considerably elevated, broad at the base, and compressed with a small anterior and 
posterior heel ; the fourth is somewhat larger than the fifth, but both agree in their 
construction ; they have individually three sharp points projecting from the crown ; 
the sixth is smaller, and presents three less elevated points. From these details, and 
from the comparative view which is afforded on the Plate of Illustrations, in Letter I 
and in Letter O, it appears that the Tupaia tana is distinguished from the Tupaia 
javanica by a greater length of its canine teeth, and of the lacerating points in all 
the grinders. This character is undoubtedly accommodated to its habits, and shews it 
to be more exclusively adapted to animal food than the Bangsring. 
An elongation of the rostrum or muzzle is characteristic of all the species of 
tliis genus, but in Tupaia tana this character exists in the greatest degree. In 
Tupaia javanica the rostrum is shorter than the head; in Tupaia ferruginea it is nearly 
of the same length; but in Tupaia tana it is one third longer. This elongation gives 
a very peculiar physiognomy to our animal, and in consequence of the length of the 
jaw, the interstices between the teeth are greater than in the other species ; tins 
appears distinctly in the profile of the head given on the Plate of Illustrations. The 
attenuation of the rostrum is almost uniform from the crown of the head to its 
