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Show 458 MR. E. R. ALSTON ON ANTECHINOMYS. [June 15, the tarso-metatarsus considerably exceeding the femur in length; Phascologale and Antechinus it is only one half, and in Podabrus about two thirds as long as the femur. The phalanges of the four digits are short and rather delicate. MUSCLES. In its myology Antechinomys does not differ strikingly from its allies, save that the muscles of the lumbar region are more largely developed, especially the ilio-spinal, quadratus lumborum, and psoas magnus. In the limbs the muscles of the lower arm and leg have only a very short fleshy portion, the tendons forming considerably more than half their whole length. It is this that gives the peculiar bird-like look to the forearm and metatarsus of the animal, strongly-contrasting with the stout short limbs of Phascologale and Antechinus, and even with the more delicate structure of Podabrus. In the hind foot the best developed muscles are the extensor communis and flexor brevis digitorum ; the extensor and flexor poliicis are of course absent. TEETH. In dentition I cannot find that Antechinomys differs in any appreciable degree from Podabrus, or, indeed, from some species of Antechinus. The middle upper incisors are curved rather inwards than forwards, and the canines are uearly equal in size to the largest (third) premolars. VISCERA. The tongue in Antechinomys is long and narrow*; the front part marked with transverse furrows, corresponding to the palatal ridges. It is covered with fine filiform papillae, mixed with a few fungiform ; the three circumvallate papillae are placed in a triangle, and are large, pointed, and directed backwards. In the other forms the tongue is similar, but I was unable to detect the transverse furrows in the specimen of Phascologale penicillata examined. Stomachs of Antechinomys (b) and Antechinus (a). The stomach (fig. 3) is proportionally large, and is almost globular in shape, with the cardiac and pyloric openings near one another; the epithelial lining is smooth and uniform, with a ievr slight longitudinal puckers. In Podabrus the stomach is of the same form ; but in Phascologale and Antechinus it is very different, being transversely elongated, with a considerably produced fundus, and the pyloric opening is placed at the right extremity. |