THE UTIA. 
469 
the Caribbean chain, and reputed to be indigenous to 
the larger islands. Thus Bryan Edwards, enumerating 
the quadrupeds of the West Indies, mentions the 
Agouti, the Peccary, the Armadillo, the Opossum, 
the Racoon, the Musk-rat, the Alco, and the Monkey.^ 
Of these he concludes the first and the last to be the 
only indigenous animals now surviving in the larger 
islands, and thus alludes to the first. The Agouti 
is sometimes called couti and coati; it was corrupted 
into uti and utia, by the Spaniards; and at present 
is known in some parts of the West Indies by the 
levins pucarar a and Indian Cony, It is the Mus agouti 
of Linnmus, and the Cavy of Pennant and Buffon.” 
(Hist. W. Ind. i. 90.) 
A few years ago M. Fournier brought to Europe 
specimens of the animal which still bears in Cuba 
the name of Utia. It was found to be new to 
naturalists, and a genus was constituted for its re- 
ception under the appellation of Capromys, which 
Mr. Waterhouse arranges in the great Porcupine 
family. Two other species were afterwards added, 
all three being inhabitants of Cuba ; and a fourth 
representing them in Haiti, but, on account of some 
difference in the dentition, erected into a genus by 
itself, and called Plagiodontia (Edium, To these we 
have now the pleasure of adding a fifth, the Utia of 
Jamaica, which we shall see to belong to the Cuban 
genus Capromys, 
The Indian Cony is quite unknown in those 
* There is no reason to believe that any quadrumanous animal 
was indigenous to the greater Antilles. 
