WATER-OPOSSUM. 
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surface of the head, and the back, sooty black ; sides of 
body grey, the grey running upwards in three places, so as 
nearly to divide the black of the back into separate patches ; 
a grey mark behind the ear, and a transverse, but somewhat 
curved band, of the same colour, on the crown of the head; 
under parts of head and body white : tail naked and scaly 
(excepting at the root, which is clothed with fur like that 
on the body), black, but terminated with white. 
Inhabits Guiana and Brazil. 
The following description is taken from a specimen of the 
Yapoek, or Water-Opossum, contained in the collection of the 
Zoological Society. The specimen is rather larger than the 
common Brown Bat (Mus decumanus ), and somewhat re¬ 
sembles that animal in its proportions. The fur is soft, 
dense, and somewhat woolly; white on the under parts of 
the head and body, and on the upper parts grey, but with 
large, sooty-black patches : black is the prevailing hue on 
the back, and grey on the sides of the body. The muzzle, 
and, indeed, the whole upper surface of the head, is black, if 
we except a curved grey band (having its convex side forwards) 
which crosses the forehead ; the black runs backwards from 
behind the eye on to the sides of the neck; the upper lip is 
white. The hairs of the moustaches are for the most part 
black, but some of them are white. On the back are four 
large black patches, joined by a broad black dorsal line. 
The foremost of the patches crosses the shoulders, and extends 
a short distance on the outer surface of the fore leg, leaving, 
however, the anterior and lower parts grey. The second 
patch is placed near the middle of the back, and is almost 
circular; the third is situated near the hinder part of the 
back, and the fourth crosses the rump, runs down the back 
of hind legs, and extends also on to the hairy portion of the 
