TAltSIPES KOSTItATHS. 
340 
food. The female Tarsipes possesses a distinct pouch, and 
the male presents the corresponding characteristics of the 
Marsupial Mammalia: in structure, the feet are adapted for 
climbing, and are more suited for grasping small twigs than 
for ascending large trees, since the toes are provided only 
with very small noils, which are for the most part embedded 
in the upper surface of the expanded fleshy pad with which 
each toe is terminated. The long and slender, opposable 
thumb of the hind foot is nailless, the second and third toes 
ore united to the extremity, hut the two nails of these toes 
are distinct, pointed, and hollow beneath, and are the only 
nails which have the points free: they are no doubt used (as 
I have observed in some other Marsupials) for cleansing the 
fur. The head is long, and the muzzle is very long, slender, 
and pointed ; the ears rather small, rounded, and clothed with 
very small hairs. The eyes are small, of a black colour, and 
very prominent. The limbs are of nearly equal length, but 
the hinder legs are slightly longer than the anterior. The 
toil is longer than the head and body taken together, and 
clothed with small stiff hairs, like the tail of a mouse, and 
these do not completely hide the scaly skin. The colouring 
of the fur varies somewhat in different individuals, but may 
be described as generally grey, more or less suffused with 
rust colour on the upper parts of the body, and yellow on the 
under : a narrow black line, commencing at the buck of the 
head, is continued along the back to the root of the tail, and 
on each side of this is a broadish grey space, followed by a 
rusty brown longitudinal hand, usually not well defined, and 
blending externally into the rich rust colouring which is 
almost always observed on the sides of the body. The upper 
surface of the head is brown along the mesial portion ; the 
sides of the face are tinted with rust colour: the hairs of the 
moustaches are numerous, moderately long, and black. The 
small hail's with which the cars arc clothed are by no means 
