1839.] ORNITHORHYNCHUS. 245 



and graceful animal. This genera is insectivorous. The 

 petaurista are a sub-genus of the phalangers, and are some- 

 times called flying phalangers, from a kind of parachute, 

 formed by an extension of the skin of the side, which dis- 

 tinguishes them : the squirrel opossum [didclphis sciurus) 

 belongs to this genus, and has so much the appearance of a 

 squirrel that it is not easy to detect the difference ; it skips 

 from tree to tree in the same manner as the squirrel, and is 

 hunted on moonlight nights, like the American opossum. 

 The parameles are commonly called pouched badgers, from 

 their resemblance in form and habits to the common badger : 

 unlike the other genera their tails are very weak. Of the 

 phascolarctos, or koala, as it is generally termed, there is but 

 one species ; which has a clumsy body, like that of a moder- 

 ate sized dog, with short legs armed with claws, adapted for 

 climbing or burrowing : its motions are very slow, and on 

 this account is often called the New Holland sloth ; it pos- 

 sesses cutting teeth, but is destitute of canines ; the female 

 carries her young for some time, on her shoulders, and not 

 in her pouch, as is customary in this order. There is, also, 

 but one species of the phascolomys, which is called the wombat 

 by the colonists : it is a plantigrade animal, like the bear, a 

 true rodent, and in size approaches the badger. The wom- 

 bat lives in holes, and when roasted, its flesh is said to be as 

 delicate as that of a young pig. The potorvus, or wallaby, 

 likewise consists of but one species : it is the most diminu- 

 tive of the kangaroo family, and is sometimes called the kan- 

 garoo rat. 



There are four species of the edentata : these are all tooth- 

 less, or so near it, that the term applied to them is not inap- 

 plicable. There are two genera of this order, the echidni, 

 or porcupines, and the ornithorhynchi, both of which are des- 

 titute of teats, and do not suckle their young. Of the por- 

 cupines there are two species : one is entirely covered with 

 closely serried spines, and the other has a coat of shaggy hair 

 which half conceals the spines. The ornithorhynchi are, 

 probably, the most singular animals found in Australia. 



