4 36 philander. 
brown colour ; its belly is whiter tinged with yel- 
low ; its fore feet are divided into five fingers, the 
hind ones into four lingers and a thumbs each fur- 
nished with fiat nails. Its tail is very long and 
slender ; and, except at the base,, quite naked. 
The length of the animal, from the nose to the 
tail, is ten inches ; the tail exceeds the length of 
both the body and the head. It inhabits Surinam, 
and burrows under ground. The female brings 
five or six young at a time, which follow her ; 
but on any apprehension of danger, they all jump 
on her back, and, twisting their tails round her’s, 
keep fast hold ; and she immediately runs with 
them into her hole. 
Philander. 
The philander is about the size of a large rat ; 
the head is large, the snout thick, and the ears 
rounded and upright, though in Scba’s figure, as 
well as in the Linnrean description, they are said to 
be pendulous ; the abdominal pouch contains two 
large mammae, each furnished with two teats. 
The tail is longer than the body, and is hairy for 
some little distance from the base, the remainder 
beingnaked, and towards the end prehensile. The 
length of the body is nine inches, and of the tail 
thirteen. The philander is of a reddish brown 
above, with a brownish border ; the mouth on 
each side is beset with very long whiskers ; down 
the forehead runs a brownish stripe ; the thumbs 
on the hind feet are rounded, as in most others of 
their genus. It has ten upper fore teeth, of which 
the middle ones are rather longer than the rest ; 
and eight lower fore teeth, the middle ones rathci* 
longest, and standing distant. It is a native of 
Surinam, and in all probability of several other 
parts of South America. 
