of the Mammary Organs of the Kangaroo. 457 



Since I became possessed of this animal it has been my en- 

 deavour to overcome by domestication its natural timidity and 

 shyness, with a view of being thus enabled to ascertain, by a 

 very frequent examination of the interior of the pouch, some 

 additional facts relative to the changes which are known to take 

 place in the economy of its contents during different periods of 

 gestation ; since we can expect by such a mode of investigation 

 alone to obtain any satisfactory information respecting the 

 obscure process of parturition in marsupial animals. My at- 

 tempts to domesticate the kangaroo have been completely 

 successful, the principal obstacle with which I had to contend 

 being the extreme timidity of the animal. I found, however, 

 after it had been in my possession a few weeks, perfectly ex- 

 cluded from any object of alarm, and accustomed to feed 

 from my own hand, that I was permitted, without any effort on 

 the part of the animal to prevent me, to introduce my hand into 

 the pouch, and to make, for as long a period as I could wish, 

 and as frequently as I thought proper, the most complete 

 examination of the young one within, and of the teat to which 

 it was adherent. 



After about six weeks the animal became completely fami- 

 liarised, and would follow either myself or my servant about 

 the lower part of my house like a dog. 



As the young one had been already delivered into the pouch, 

 my observations were of course confined to the condition of the 

 pouch and teats during its growth : these may perhaps appear 

 of a nature too trivial for the subject of a communication to 

 the Society ; yet, as we are at present so completely in the dark 

 respecting the ultimate object of our researches, — namely a 

 knowledge of the mode in which the foetus is passed from the 

 uterus to the teat, — and as it is therefore impossible to deter- 

 mine how far a few insulated facts my assist in bringing our 



3 N 2 inquiries 



