131 



"Oct. 9th. — I again examined the pouch; the young one wa3 

 evidently grovvn, and respired vigorously. I determined to detacit 

 it from the nipple for the follovving leasons : Ist, to decide the na- 

 tūra of the connexion betvveen the fcetus and nipple; 2nd, to ascer- 

 tain, if possible, the nature of the mammary secretion at this period ; 

 3rd, to try whether so small a foetus would manifest anything likę 

 voluntary acticn to regain the nipple; and, lastly, to observe the 

 actions of the parent herself to efFect the šame purpose, as we might 

 presume they vvould be instinctively analogous to those by means of 

 which the fa?tus vvas originally applied to the nipple, supposing that 

 to take place through the agency of the mother. 



" An organical connexion by vessels betvveen the mammary fcetus 

 and the nipple being a necessary consequenceofthe truth of Dr.Bar- 

 ton's assertion as to the condition of the product of generation at 

 uterine birth, this has been much insisted upon ; a discharge of blood 

 has been described as a concomitant of marsupial birth ; and even 

 the anastomoses of the maternal vessels with those of the fcetus have 

 been speculated upon. (See Mem. du Museum, tom, ix. p. 393.) 



" The dissections of the mammary foetus of the Kangaroo by 

 Mr. Hunter, shovving the relation of the nipple to its tongue and 

 mouth, the passage of the larynx into the posterior nares, the ab- 

 sence of the urachus and umbilical vessels, &c., tended indeed to 

 disprove the theory of the vascular connexion ; and the observations 

 of Mr. Morgan and Mr. Collie, with the testimony of Joseph Fuller, 

 were completely subversive of it. Nevertheless it vvas desirable to 

 have ocular demonstration of the real statė of the facts at this early 

 period of the young animal's existence. 



" lt was removed from the nipple without the slightest trace of 

 laceration of continuous vessels, or of any kind of connecting sub- 

 stance : but it adhered more firmly than I had been led to expect from 

 Fuller. After it was detached, a minute drop of serous milk ap- 

 peared on pressure at the point of the nipple : this was the smallest 

 part of the nipple, and vvas not svvoUen or clavate ; about half a line 

 had entered the mouth of the fcetus. 



" The young one raoved its extreniities vigorously after being 

 detached, but made no efFort to apply its legs to the f'ur or skin of 

 the mother so as to creep along: it seemed perfectiy helpless. It 

 vvas deposited at the bottom of the pouch, and the mother vvas libe- 

 rated and carefully vvatched. She immediately shovved symptoms 

 of uneasiness, stooping dovvn to liek the orifice of theua^zwa, vvhich 

 she couid easily reach, and scratching the exterior of the pouch 

 vvith her fore pavvs. At length she grasped the sides of the opening 

 of the marsupium vvith her fore paws, and dravving them apart, just 

 as one vvould open a bag, she thrust her head into the cavity as far 

 as her eyes, and could be seen moving it about in difiFerent directions. 

 During this act she rested on her tripod, formed by the tarsi and 

 tail. She occasionally lay down, but in that posture never med- 

 dled vvith the pouch : vvhen stimulated to do so she immediately 

 rose, and repeated the process of dravving open her pouch and in- 

 serting therein her muzzle, which she sometimes kept in for half a 

 minute at a time. I never observed her put her fore legs, or either 

 of them, into the pouch ; these vvere invariably employed to vviden 



