THE EMBRYOLOGY OF THE OPOSSUM ] 79 



Twenty years later another observer (E. S. Hill, 1867) 

 thought that he had seen a similar thing in the kangaroo. 

 While concealed behind a bush watching some wild kangaroos 

 he thought he saw a female pick up 'a stone' or something in 

 her lips. He then saw her put her head into her pouch; and 

 later when he shot her, he found a young foetus inside. The 

 female very commonly licks out the inside of her pouch. He 

 did not recognize the foetus in her mouth ; in fact, did not even 

 think of a foetus until he found one in the pouch. Then, of 

 course, it was very easy to interpret what he had seen as he 

 did; especially, as one must admit that a very young mar- 

 supial looks altogether incapable of getting into the pouch by 

 its own efforts. 



These two observations form the basis for the theory that 

 the mother transfers the young from the vulva to the pouch 

 by means of her lips. One of the very serious objections to 

 the theory is the fact that in some marsupials (e.g., the bandi- 

 coots, Peramelidae, and the marsupial mole, Notoryctes) the 

 opening of the pouch is directed backward, and it is unlikely 

 that the mother can insert her snout into the pouch at all. 



The next important evidence was published in an Australian 

 newspaper in 1913, but was not made generally available until 

 Hartman republished it in his 1920 paper. Mr. A. Goerling 

 had been attracted by the curious behavior of an adult female 

 kangaroo (Macropus rufus) which he had in captivity. She 

 had refused food, and he had observed blood marks in the 

 cage. She was sitting with her "tail passed forward through 

 the legs," and "was busy licking and cleaning herself." 

 Goerling says, 



Presently she lifted her head, when I was astonished to see a 

 young kangaroo clinging to the long fur about four inches 

 below the opening of the pouch. It moved about slowly, 

 very slowly, through the fur upwards, using the arms 

 in its progress, and continually moving the head from side 

 to side, thus assisting the upward movement. Nearly 30 

 minutes were required by the little wanderer to reach the top 

 of the pouch, the last end in a semicircle. During the whole 



