OPOSSUiM. 



Didelpliis marf?ui)ialis virjiiniaua. 



DKSCRirTION. 



Variable in size: weight from six to ton pounds; 

 from twenty to thirty-two from end of pointed snout to tip of 

 the tail; the tail, about as long as the head and body, is very 

 flexible and. except at the base which is halr>-. is covered with 

 scales, which enable tlie 'possum to cling with absolute security 

 to the limbs, amongst which lie climbs with great dexterity. The 

 eyes are brown. Fur of body is quite soft, and woolly, thickly 

 sprinlvled with long white and lUacklsh hair that gives the 

 animal a shaggy dress. Sides of head, face, throat and chin, 

 whitish, with a more or less brownish area about the eyes; 

 legs and feet blackish brown; the ears, conspicuous, rounded 

 and lengthened, are dark-colored and naked; belly whitish. 

 The long white and blackish hairs of the body give the animal a 

 frosted, dusky appearance. In antediluvian times when father 

 Noah -lived and built himself a bark." 'tis said, the "possum 

 had long and numerous hairs covering his long and tapering 

 tail; such a condition does not now exist, and this nakedness 

 has been facetiously accounted for in the followins stanzas, 

 taken from Mr. A. M. Brayton's report:* 



WHY DB HAR IS MISSIX". 



Go 'way fiddle— folks is tired a-hearin' you a-squawkin'. 

 Keep silence for your betters— don't you hear de bango talkin.? 

 About de 'possum's tail she's grwine to lecter — ladies, listen! — 

 About de ha'r what isn't dar, an" why de ha'r is missin'. 



De ark she keeps a sailin', an' a sailin'. an' a sailin'; 

 De lion got his dander up, an' like to bruk de' v>alin' — 

 De sarplnts hissed — de painter yelled— tell, what wi'd all de 



fussin'. 

 You c'u'dn't hardly heah de mate a-bossin' roun' an' cussin'. 



Now Ham, de only nigger what was runnin' on de packet. 

 Got lonesome in de barber shop, an c'ti'dn't stan' de racket: 

 An" so for to amuse he-self, he steamed some wood an' bent it, 

 An" soon he had a bango made — de fust dat was invented. 



He wet de ledder, stretched It on, made bridge, an' screws, an' 



apron; 

 An' fitted in a, proper neck — 'twas very long an' tap'rin". 

 He tuk some tin, an" twisted him a thimble for to ring it; 

 An" de mighty question rix. how was he gwine to string it? 



