420 
PHASCOGALE MINIMA. 
Inches. Lint*. 
Length from Up of nose to root of tail ... 3 10 
44 of tail ... ... ... .. 2 C 
44 from nose to ear ... ... ... 10$ 
44 of ear ... ... ... . 2$ 
44 of fore foot and claws ... ... 5] 
44 of claw of middle toe ... . 1$ 
44 of hind foot and claws ... ... 9i 
Formerly I was led, upon Mr. Gould’s authority, to link 
together, as names of the same species, Phascogale Strain- 
sonii and P. minima; having since, however, lmd reason to 
doubt the accuracy of this identification, I took with me to 
Paris the animal to which I had given the name Swainsonii , 
and compared it with Geoffroys Dasyurus minimus. I found 
the two animals to be very distinct, and that the latter was a 
species exceedingly close to, if not identical with, cither the 
Phas. Jlavipes or the P. ajfinis. From P. Jla vipes it appeared 
to me to differ in having the ears proportionately sandier, and 
the claws of the feet rather larger; and this I find, upon com¬ 
paring dimensions, to be actually the case, and I also find that 
these differences distinguish the P. ajfinis from P. Jla ripe*. 
In fact, I can discover no points of distinction between the 
DasyurUs minimus of Gcoffroy and the P/iascoya/e 
excepting that the former is of smaller size, and has the fur 
differently coloured ; and when wo bear in mind thut the little 
animal described by Geoffrov has been exposed to the action 
of light in a museum for upwards of forty years, we cannot 
but suppose its colouring 1ms changed. The difference of 
size, I need scarcely say, may arise from difference of age in 
the specimens when captured, and hence it does not app ar 
that we have good grounds for separating, as distinct species, 
these two animals, which may have been found within 
about five miles of the same spot, the one being from 
Tasman s Peninsula, and the other from Maria Island. The 
