[Illustration]
This little animal is common in Brazil where it lives on trees and
secures itself by means of its hind-feet, it uses its tail, which is
pretty long, as a means of descending. Its length, from the muzzle to
the tip of the tail, is about a foot; the tail is almost as long as
the trunk. The upper parts of the body are covered with sharp prickles
about an inch and a half long, and attached to the skin by means of a
very thin pedicle. The head-prickles are white at the base, black in the
middle and of a yellowish-brown at the top, the dorsal prickles are of
a sulphur-yellow at their base. The prickles on the rump and the first
third of the tail, are black at their extremity. All the prickles are
very close together, mingled with a few long and fine hairs. The lower
limbs are covered with a grayish fur, interspersed with little prickles;
the tail is furnished with prickles at its upper part, and is covered
with stiff and black hairs; the extremity of the tail is bare.
We triturate the prickles taken from one of the sides.