| OCR Text |
Show 664 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON BASSARICYON ALLENI. [June 19, kinds of mammals. They may very conceivably be tactile in function. In any case they are connected with a strong nerve which can be readily felt and seen when cut by removal of the skin. The nerve is 1 m m . or so in thickness just where it enters the skin to supply these vibrissae. Tbe roots of the latter can be seen to project slightly from the under surface of the skin when the latter has been flayed off in the ordinary way. It is suggestive that these nervous structures should be present near to the wrist of mammals which make considerable use of their hands. A nocturnal habit may be also partly explanatory of their presence and obvious importance in some capacity or another ; the large size of the nerve and of the vibrissae themselves seem to justify the statement that they are obviously important. Tbe example of Bassaricyon alleni which I have studied is a female ; it has, as had the skin examined by Mr. Thomas, a single pair of mammae, which are some three inches or so in front of the anus. The same number of mammae is found in CercolepAes. Alimentary Viscera. The tongue, as exhibited in the drawing (fig. 2), seems to be very like that of Cercoleptes. It has seven circumvallate papillae arranged in the usual triangular fashion with the apex directed Fig. 2. Tongue of Bassaricyon alleni, dorsal view. towards the throat. The back part of the tongue at the fauces has a number of longish backwardly directed horny papillae. The fungiform papillae are scattered irregularly all over the dorsum of the |
