MARSUPIAL QUADRUPEDS OF NEW HOLLAND. 135 



ductions of Australia ; the habits and economy of the singular 

 animals which surround them, can only be studied in their 

 native climate ; nor do I despair of shortly seeing new genera 

 and species added, by colonial science and enterprise, to those 

 already known ; and that too in numbers exceeding our most 

 sanguine expectations. 



But if the number of genera and species be comparatively 

 limited among the quadrupeds of New Holland, the number 

 of individuals of the same species appears to be still more so. 

 This is a well-ascertained fact, and arises from the operation 

 of causes which are easily explained and understood ; some 

 depending upon the nature and circumstances of the country, 

 others arising from physical causes connected with the ani- 

 mals themselves. Among the former are to be considered the 

 swampy nature of many parts of the interior, and the sudden 

 and destructive floods to which the most fertile districts are 

 so frequently exposed ; in addition to which vast numbers 

 annually perish by the hands of the inland or bush natives, 

 who are chiefly supported by the produce of the chase ; as 

 well as by their wanton and thoughtless practice of periodi- 

 cally firing the long grass, which bums with the most asto- 

 nishing rapidity, and destroys the nocturnal animals in their 

 retreats, before they have time to escape from its ravages. — 

 But a still more potent and influential cause of the scarcity 

 of mammals in New Holland, arises from their physical con- 

 stitution. They seldom produce more than two young ones 

 at a birth, and that, in all probability, not oftener than once 

 or twice in the course of the year, since their growth is com- 

 paratively slow, and the progressive developement of their 

 organs unusually tardy among the inferior animals. All these 

 causes tend powerfully to check the multiplication and diffu- 

 sion of Australian quadrupeds; and when we add the reflec- 

 tion that many individuals must necessarily perish before ar- 

 riving at maturity, or employing their productive powers in 

 the increase of the species, we must cease to be surprised that 

 their numbers are so limited, under circumstances which, at 

 first sight, seem so favourable to their multiplication. 



The anatomy of the marsupials has been diligently exa- 

 mined and amply discussed by M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Sir 

 Everard Home, and other able zootomists ; and the late va- 

 luable discoveries of Mr. Morgan have thrown considerable 

 light upon the most interesting, though, hitherto, the most 

 obscure part of their economy. The conjectures of this gen- 

 tleman, however, still require to be confirmed by actual ob- 

 servation, for as yet, we have no certain knowledge either of 

 the manner in which the young animal is deposited in the 



