. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . POSSUM,** Resembles, in most respects, the Virginian; they are natives of the sameclimate, in the same continent, and are very much alike by the form of thebody, the conformation of the feet, and the tail, a part of which is coveredwith scales, the upper part only being hairy. But the marmose is smallerthan the common opossum, his snout is still sharper; the female has nobag under the belly, she has only two loose skins near the thighs, betweenwhich the young pl
. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . POSSUM,** Resembles, in most respects, the Virginian; they are natives of the sameclimate, in the same continent, and are very much alike by the form of thebody, the conformation of the feet, and the tail, a part of which is coveredwith scales, the upper part only being hairy. But the marmose is smallerthan the common opossum, his snout is still sharper; the female has nobag under the belly, she has only two loose skins near the thighs, betweenwhich the young place themselves to stick to the paps. When the youngare brought forth, they are not so large as small beans; they then stick tothe paps. The brood of the marmose is very numerous ; we have seen tensmall marmoses, each sticking to a pap, and the mother had still four morepaps. It is probable that these animals bring forth a few days after concep-tion. The young are then fcetuses only, which are not come to the fourthpart of their growth. Didclphis cayopollin, Lin. * Didelphis murina, Lin. MAMMALIA — KANGUROO. 219 THE There exists several species of the kanguroo, all of which are nativesof New Holland. The principal of these, is the great kanguroo, which wasfirst discovered in 1770, by some of the persons who accompanied CaptainCook. It often measures nine feet in length, from the tip of the nose to theend of the tail; and, when full grown, weighs two hundred pounds. Thehead and neck are very small, while the lower parts gradually dilate to avery great size; the fore legs are hardly nineteen inches long, while the hind-er ones, which are perfectly bare, and callous beneath, measure three feetseven inches. The head bears some resemblance to that of the deer, havinga mild and placid visage ; the ears are moderately large and erect, the eyesfull, and the mouth rather small. The general color is a pale brown, inclin-ing to white underneath. From the great difference in l
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