MARSUPIATA. 105 



[The author enumerates three, to which four have since been added by Mr. Ogilby, and an eighth by M.Geofl 

 These animals keep in holes of trees till twilight, and fin* an hour or two after Bunset are observed eating the 

 leaves of the different Eucalypti -, also, in retired places, those with the young thoots of fruit-trees. 1 he Ph. <ul- 

 pina is known as the Broth-tailed Opossum in Van Diemen's Land, and the I'll, t'uukii, as the Ring-tatted 



Opossum.] 



The Petaurists (Petaurus, Shaw; Phalangista, lllig.) — 



Have the skin of the flanks more or less extended between the legs, as in the Colugos, and Taguans 

 among the Rodents, by which they are enabled to sustain themselves in the air for some second-, and 

 to make greater leaps. They have been found only in New Holland. 



Some of the species still possess inferior canines, but extremely small. Their upper canines and 

 the three first molars, both above and below, are very pointed ; the back molars have each four points 

 [the last excepted, in which there are but three]. M. Desmarest has named this division Jcrobates. 

 [It possesses thirty-six teeth in all.] 



The Pygmy Petaurist (Did. pignuea, Shaw).— Of the colour and nearly the size of a Mouse ; the hairs of the tail 

 disposed very regularly on its two sides like the barbs of a feather. 



Other species have no inferior canines, and the superior are very small. Their four back molars 

 each present four points, but a little curved into a crescent, somewhat as observed in the Ruminants. 

 Anteriorly, there are two above and one below, less complicated : this structure renders them still 

 more frugivorous than any of the preceding. [Their teeth amount in all to thirty-four.] 



The Great Petaurist (Did. petaurus, Shaw ; P. taguanoides, Desm.) — Resembles the Tagann and the Colugo in 

 size : its fur is soft and thick, and the tail long and [not in those which I have seen] flattened : brown-black 

 above, white underneath. 



The Seiurine Petaurist (Did. sciurea, Shaw). — Ash-coloured above, white beneath, and smaller than the pre- 

 ceding; a brown line commencing on the muzzle and continued along the back : the tail tufted, and as long as the 

 body, its posterior portion black. From the islands near New Guinea. [It is abundant along the south coast of 

 New Holland. The teeth are forty in number, and exhibit considerable modification ; hence this animal has been 

 made a separate division of the Belidea, Waterh. There are but four true molars to each jaw, with comparatively 

 blunt tubercles originally ; three false molars and a middle-sized canine above, and four small flattened teeth 

 below : the palate also is in this group perfect, whereas it is not so in the two others. Four or five species are 

 known to possess these characters. 



The remainder appertain to the same minimum group as P. taguanoides.'] 



Our third subdivision possesses the incisors and superior canines of the preceding. The 

 two toes of the hind-foot are also similarly united ; but the posterior thumbs and interior 

 canines are wanting. It contains but a single genus, 



The Potoroos (Ilgpsiprgmnus, lllig.), — 



Which are the last animals of this family that retain any trace of the general character of the Car- 

 naria. Their teeth are nearly the same as in the Phalangers, and they still have pointed canines above 

 [which all but disappear in one species]. Their two middle upper incisors are longer than the rest, 

 and pointed; the two inferior ones project forwards. They have anteriorly a long trenchant and 

 dentelated molar, followed by four others, each with four blunt tubercles. What particularly distinguishes 

 these animals, however, is their hind legs, which are very much longer in proportion than their fore 

 ones, that have no thumbs, and the two first toes of which are joined as far as the nail ; so that, at 8 

 fir>t glance, it seems as though there were but three toes, the middle one having two nails. They 

 often hop on their hind-feet, a1 which time they make use of their long and strong tail to support 

 themselves. They have accordingly the form and habits of the Kangaroos, from which they only differ in 

 possessing the superior canine. Their regimen is frugivorous, and the stoma h large, divided into two 

 easing several inflations; but their ccecum is moderate and rounded. 



Only one species is known, the size of a small Rabbit, an. I of a mouse-grey colour, which is termed the Kanga- 

 roo-i.ii (Macroput miliar, Shaw.) [Five or m\ others ha\ e since been discovered, two of winch, inhabiting N< » 

 Guinea, are remarkable for their arboreal habits, in reference to which their structure is shghtl) modified, the 

 limbs being less unequal, and the great nails of their hind-feel curved: they do not, ho entially differ 



from the others. One gpei iea Is Common in the interior of Van Die men's l.an.i . 



The fourth subdivision differs only from the third in having no canines whatever. 

 Tin. Kaniiaimus, (Macropui, Shaw ; Hajjnaturui, lllig.), — 

 In which all the characters occur that we have assigned to the pewmding genua, except thai the npper 



