Page:The mammals of Australia Gould vol 2.djvu/215

 Filander.

Filander, Le Brun, Voy. par Muscoyie, en Perse, et aux Ind. Orient., tom. i. p. 347. f. 213. 1718.—Ib. Edition of 1725, vol. V. p. 45. pi. at p. 43.

Didelphis Brunii, Schreb. Sang., tom. iii. p. 551. pi. 153.—Gmel. Edit, of Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 109.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. p. 480.—Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l'Astrolabe, Zool., p. 116. pl. 20.

—— Asiatica, Pall. Act. Acad. Sci. Petrop. 1777, pt. 2. p. 229. tab. 9. figs. 4, 5.

Javan Opossum, Penn. Hist, of Quad., p. 305.

Halmaturus Brunii, Ill. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 80.

Macropus veterum. Less. Man. de Mamm., p. 227.

—— Brunii, Fischer, Syn. Mamm., p. 283.

Hypsiprymnus Bruni, Müll. Zoogd. der Indesch. Archipel., pt. 4. pi. 21; head, pl. 22. fig. 3; skull, pl. 23. figs. 7 and 8, and pl. 24. fig. 7; bones of hind leg, pl. 24. figs. 8, 9.

Halmaturus Asiaticus, Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 91.

Macropus Brunii, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 180.

Dorcopsis Brunii, Müll. Verh. Zool. Mamm., p. 131. pi. 21.—Sclater in Journ. of Proc. of Linn. Soc., Zoology, vol. ii. p. 154.

desirous of rendering my account of the Kangaroos as perfect as possible, I have considered it advisable to figure and describe in this work the species of that group of animals inhabiting New Guinea, in addition to those found in Australia and Van Diemen's Land. Independently of the two species of Dendrolagus, this contiguous island presents us with another animal belonging to the same family, which is rendered especially remarkable from the circumstance of its being the earliest known species of this singular group of quadrupeds; its discovery dating as far hack as 1711, long before the geographical limits of Australia had been ascertained, or its productions become known to us. But, although so long a time—nearly one hundred and fifty years—has elapsed since its discovery, little or nothing is known of its habits and economy, and specimens are still rarely to be found in our own museums or those of the Continent. In his work on "The Natural History of the Mammalia," Mr. Waterhouse states:—

"This singular animal is the first of the Kangaroo family with which naturalists became acquainted, being imperfectly described, but better figured, as early as the year 1711, by Le Brun; its characters were subsequently more carefully pointed out by Pallas, and it is upon the accounts of these two authors that all the various descriptions and notices in systematic works, chiefly under the specific names of Filander and Brunii, have been founded until a comparatively recent period. Several specimens of the Filander were seen, in a state of captivity, at Batavia by Le Brun; these, however, must have been transported from New Guinea, whence it has since been procured during the French expedition of the Astrolabe, and still more recently by the naturalists sent out by the Dutch Government, to whom we are indebted for many important additions to our knowledge of the natural-history productions of the islands of the Indian Archipelago. One of the specimens of this last-mentioned expedition is now in the British Museum, and enables me to give an original description."

The following quaint note is a translation of the passage referring to this animal in Le Brun's "Voyage par Muscovie, en Perse, et aux Indes Orientales," published in 1725:—

"Being at the country-house of my general in Batavia, I there saw a certain animal which is called Filander, and which is something very singular. There were several of them which ran about with the rabbits, and had their burrows under a little hill surrounded by a balustrade. This animal, which I have represented in the plate, has the hind-legs much longer than those of the front, and is nearly of the size and texture of hair of a large Hare; it has a pointed tail, and the head approaches that of a Fox; but the most singular thing about it is, that it has an opening under the belly in the form of a bag, in which the young enter and go out again even when they are tolerably large; one may often see the head and the neck out of this bag; but when the mother runs, they do not appear to keep at the bottom of the bag, because she jerks strongly in running."

The following is Mr. Waterhouse's description of the specimen in the British Museum, which was formerly in my own possession, I having received it from the late M. Temminck, of Leyden:—

"The Filander, like the Tree-Kangaroos, has the fur radiating from a point rather behind the shoulders, and the hair on the neck directed forwards as in those animals. The fur is remarkably short, rather soft,