feet rather small, tarsus short; tail rather shorter than the body, thick at the
base; fur long and extremely soft, and silk-like. General colour pale grayish
brown, with a slight yellow wash ; the upper part of the head and the
back dusky brown; under parts of the body very pale yellowish brown, inclining
to white ; chin and throat whitish; feet dirty white; tail well clothed
with hairs, which are closely adpressed, brown above, and of a very pale
brown beneath at the base, darker towards the apex. The hairs of the
moustaches are numerous, long, rather slender, and of a brownish colour.
The ears are brown, furnished externally at the base with fur resembling that
of the body ; the remaining parts (both external and internal) are beset with
long and extremely slender brown hairs, which project considerably beyond
the margin of the ear. The ordinary fur on the back is about ten lines in
length, hut thickly interspersed with this fur, are- longer hairs which are so
delicate that they may almost be compared to the spiders’ thread. Both on
the upper and under side of the body the fur is deep gray at the base. The
incisors arc yellow.
Length from nose to root
of tail
from nose to car
In. Lines.
0 9
5 0
Length of tarsus (claws included) . . 1 4
of e a r ..................................................0 10
“Width of ear . . . . . 1 0¿
Habitat, Chile, (August.)
“ This animal was caught amongst some thickets in a valley on the flanks of
the Cordillera, near Aconcagua. On the elevated plain, near the town of Santa
Rosa, in iront of the same part of the Andes, I saw two others, which were crawling
up an acacia tree, with so much facility, that this practice must be, I should
think, habitual with them.”—D.
2 . A b r o c o m a C u v i e r i .
P l a t e X X IX .
Abrocoma Cuvieri, W aterh., Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for February 1837, p. 82.
Ab. suprà grísea, levitèr oc/iraceo lavata; abdomine gulâque albescenti-griseis; pedibus
sordidh albis; auribus amplis, ad marginem posticum distincte emarginatis ; caudâ
corpore multò breviore, et nigrescente.
D e s c r i p t i o n .— Ears large; tail considerably shorter than the body; fur extremely
'