96 
ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 
pale. The tail is furnished throughout with minute decumbent hairs, excepting 
a small naked space at the tip beneath, of about one line in length ; on the 
upper surface they are brown, and on the under, they are whitish. The 
fur of the upper and under parts of the body is deep gray at the base ; on 
the lower part of the cheeks, chin, and on the mesial line of the throat and 
chest, the hairs are uniform — not gray at the base. The ears are brown, 
and to the naked eye, appear naked. 
In. Lines. 
Length from nose to root of tail . .46 
of tail . . . . .44 
of tarsus (claws included) . .0 
Habitat, Valparaiso, Chile, {October.) 
In. 
Lines. 
Length from nose to ear 
. 1 
H 
of ear 
. 0 
n 
width of ear 
. 0 
n 
This little Opossum, which is the only species I am acquainted with from the 
west side of the Cordillera, was exhibited at one of the scientific meetings of the 
Zoological Society, and its characters were pointed out by Mr. James Reid, who 
proposed for it the specific name of hortensis * a name which was given from the 
circumstance that in Mr. Darwin’s notes it is stated that a small Opossum was 
found in a garden at Maldonado. These notes however refer to the Didelphis 
brachyura. The skull of this animal is figured in Plate 35. Fig. 5, a, re- 
presents the upper side ; 5, b, the under side ; and 5, c, is the side view. Fig. 5, d, is 
the lower jaw, and 5, e, is the same magnified. The length of the skull is 14| lines; 
width, 8 lines; length of palate, 7i lines; inter-orbital space, 2 -l lines; length of 
ramus of lower jaw, 10^ lines. In the palate are two long openings which commence 
opposite the posterior false molar, and terminate opposite the hinder portion of the 
penultimate true molar : the incisive foramina are nearly one line in length. On 
the posterior portion of the palate there are four other foramina, one on each side 
near the- posterior molar, and one on either side the mesial line, behind the large 
palatine openings above mentioned. 
“These little animals frequent the thickets growing on the rocky hills, near 
Valparaiso. They are exceedingly numerous, and are easily caught in traps 
baited either with cheese or meat. The tail appeared to be scarcely at all 
used as a prehensile organ ; they are able to run up trees, with some degree of 
facility. I could distinguish in their stomachs the larvae of beetles.” — D. 
* See Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for January, 1837, p. 4.; its characters were not 
published. 
