THE OPOSSUM 
PIHE opossum is certainly the most dis- 
¥|  tinctive of the North American mammals, 
inasmuch as it is a marsupial. It seems 
rather strange that, among so many mammals, the 
opossum has neither kith nor kin. There was a time 
when the whole world was inhabited by marsupials, 
so those living to-day are the separated remnants of 
that once universal race. 
The range of the Virginia opossum is from the lati- 
tude of the southern part of New York State and 
Michigan, southward to Central America. It is very 
common in the South, and probably there is only one 
