SOOTY PHALANGIST.—Phalangista fuligindso 
attacked each other fiercely, and growled, and scratched, and bit, with infinitely more 
energy than would have been expected from creatures of such apparently apathetic 
natures. 
These specimens were great water-drinkers, and would eat bread, although they 
evidently gave the preference to meat, thus confirming the opinion that their diet is 
naturally of a mixed character. 
Passing by the curious little dormouse-like animals which are classed under the 
genus Dromicia, we arrive at the true Phalangists, the first of which is the TAPOA, or 
Sooty PHALANGIST, an animal woe has been gifted with its rather dismal title in 
consequence of the uniform smoky-black colour of its fur. 
The Sooty Phalangist is tolerably common in Van Diemen’s Land, where it is much 
sought after on account of its skin, which is highly valued by white and black men for 
fe purpose of being manufactured into a soft, warm, and beautiful fur. As with the 
preceding animal, there is considerable variation a the tint of the coat, some specimens 
being entirely clothed with a uniform dark, dull, blackish-brown, while the fur of others 
ae HH 
