176 
Notice of the Van Diemen’s Land Tiger. 
[JlTNF, 
his flocks daring the night, or to enclose them in a fold. One of these animals had 
just been caught before the party passed. It measured six feet from the snout tothe 
tail. The skin is beautifully striped with black and white on the back, while the belly 
and sides are of a grey colour. Its mouth resembles that of a wolf, with huge jaws, 
opening almost to the ears. Its legs are short, in proportion to the body, and it has 
a sluggish appearance ; but in running, it bounds like a kangaroo, though not with 
such speed. The female carries its young in a pouch, like most other quadrupeds, 
of the country.” 
If the animal just described, be identical with the one now submitted to the 
Society, it must have been a larger individual. When the writer in the Almanack 
states that his animal measured six feet from the snout to the tail, I conclude he 
means, from the snout to the end of the tail. The newly killed animal too, it will be 
remembered, would measure longer than an ill-prepared dried specimen like this one, 
which measures from the snout to the end of the tail, four feet six inches. The 
colour of the animal is between a greyish and a tawny. The character and the head 
is wolfish and carnivorous, with a very deep mouth. The neck of the specimen 
appears longish, and unsymmetrical ; but I attribute that to the mode in which it has 
been stuffed ; and it is proper to observe, that the specimen was presented to Dr. 
Henderson — for if he had had an opportunity of preparing it himself, it would have 
offered, I doubt not, a very different appearance. The legs too, especially the 
hinder, have suffered in the preparation. Extending from about the middle of the 
dorsal region to the insertion of the tail, you will observe a succession of black 
transverse stripes, from the appearance of which, I presume, and its prowling habits, 
the creature has obtained its name of the V. D. Land Tiger. You will further 
observe, that it has got the marsupium or ventral sac, peculiar to a certain class of 
animals, hence termed Marsupiata. This part of the animal, however, on account of 
the imperfectness of the preparation, does not admit of satisfactory developement. 
It has got five clawed toes in each fore foot j hard, horny, and somewhat blunted, as 
if intended partly to dig or burrow. The hind feet have got four clawed toes each; 
the claws being rather longer and sharper than those in the fore feet. The teeth, 
in the specimen before us, are as follows: — Incisors §, small and regular, with the 
exception of having a worn appearance, as if they had gone through hard service. 
Canines 44, large, cheek teeth f f , or twenty-two teeth in each jaw. It is evident, at 
a glance, that the creature is neither a tiger nor a hyena, as its popular name would 
lead one to suppose. A reference to Griffith's Animal Kingdom shows, that it belongs 
to the family of the Dasyuii, which, according to Cuvier, is the fourth of the Car- 
nassiers; being, says the same authority, distinguished from the Sarigues by 
having two incisors, and four cheek teeth less in each jaw than the latter. Thus 
there remain to them only forty-two teeth. Their tail is described as covered all 
over with long hair, (from which their name is derived, darrvs and ofyos,) and 
it is not prehensile. In the specimen before us, the tail is covered all over with 
hair, but that hair is not long. The Dasyuri , we are further told, inhabit New 
Holland, and live on insects, carcasses, &c., sometimes penetrating even into the 
houses, where their voracity render them very unseasonable guests. Eight varieties 
of the Dasyurus are specified in Griffith's Animal Kingdom; and of these the specimen 
now before us would appear to approximate most to the dog-faced or Dosya** 
Cynocephalus , which is described as yellowish, brown or grey, as large as a wolf or 
dog,— crupper marked with transverse black bands, and tail compressed. Accom- 
panying is a faithful copy of the drawing of the dog-faced Dasyurus, as given m 
Griffith ; but the epithet cat-faced would be much more applicable to it, I submit, if 
like the plate. The back stripes and the ears, however, identify it as the same ani- 
mal, or at any rate a variety. The attitude, I am rather inclined to think, is fao ci ‘ 
