THE MUSEUM. 



183 



hoods that it is worth our while to en- 

 ter into. We will begin with the plant 

 life because it will take but a short 

 space to dispose of that branch of the 

 subject, partly because there has been 

 so much more done in botany than in 

 zoology, and partly because I know far 

 less of the needs for exploration in that 

 direction. However, I do know that 

 in what our scientific friends call Cryp- 

 togamic Botany, that branch of the 

 study to which the ferns, the mosses, 

 the lichens, and the countless world of 

 microscopic plants to which the smuts, 

 the mildews, and all their tiny horde 

 belong, there is much of interest to be 

 gleaned. But this is hardly work that 

 will appeal to the juniors while they 

 remain such, for it calls for too much 

 of indoor work, too much of long and 

 patient bending over a microscope, to 

 be very enticing. To those who have 

 a garden, where without too much ex- 

 pense an electric line can be tapped, 

 there is a field of prying into — which 

 was one of the definitions of to explore 

 — which holds out much of promise in 

 the way of experimentation with the 

 electric current and plant life. Pro- 

 fessor Aloi and others have shown that 

 electricity may be made to exert a very 

 beneficial influence on certain vegeta- 

 bles on which they have conducted ex- 

 periments. Corn planted in the usual 

 way and treated as is commonly done 

 on our farms is much hastened in its 

 development and its yield is increased, 

 it is claimed, if an electric current is 

 sent through the ground near its roots. 

 Other vegetables have been effected in 

 like manner and some wild flowers 

 have been induced to so far excel their 

 usual size and beauty as to rival their 

 hot-house cousins. Here is a field for 

 inquiry for the suburban boy that is 

 full of suggestiveness; and, perhaps, it 

 is even a better field for his more pains- 

 taking and flower-loving sister. 



In conversation with one of the 

 students of mammals in the National 

 Museum at W'ashington, not long ago, 

 I was much surprised to find how much 

 there was yet to be found out about 



the commoner mammals of our eastern 

 states. It appeared as though there 

 was hardly a species that had not some 

 unsolved problem connected with it, 

 and to one who like myself had always 

 imagined that the mammals of this 

 region were studied until they had been 

 reduced almost to an exact science, it 

 was strange to learn that there was 

 yet so much that the students of that 

 animal class were waiting to find out. 

 There was more to be known about 

 the moles and their habits underground 

 than had yet been discovered. Al- 

 though the varieties and structural 

 peculiarities of the skunks were well 

 known, but little was certain as to 

 their home life, although that seemed 

 quite natural to me, and will, doubt- 

 less, seem so to my readers And so 

 it ran on through the catalogue of the 

 lot. 



Marsupialia or Marsupiata. 



(Purse or Pouch.) 



A great many of our zoologists of 

 the present day, class the Virginia 

 Opossum as a distinct group of the 

 mammalia. They differ essentially from 

 all others in their organization. Some 

 'possum are insectiverous or carniverous 

 in their habits, others herbiverous and 

 still others frugiverous. Some are 

 diurnal and others nocturnal. The 

 marsupial animals are all restricted to 

 two portions of the globe — America 

 and Australia — including certain is- 

 lands in the Indian Archipeligo. Up- 

 wards of 70 species are known. 



The genus Didelphys is a genus of 

 which the \'irginian Opossum (Didel- 

 phys virginiana) is restricted to Amer- 

 ica. It contains some twenty species, 

 a few of which are very small. The 

 limbs are short, the feet plantigrade, 

 five toes on each foot, armed with 

 strong curved claws, except the inner 

 toe on the hind feet. The sole is 

 covered with a naked skin which is 

 sensative. The tail is naked or scaly 

 except at its base, and constitutes an 

 organ of prehension, but not to the 



