Zoological Society. 307 



" Sept. 11th. — 1.5th day. No alteration in the pouch or nipples; 

 the young one still sucking occasionally. 



" Sept. 30th. — 34th day. The young one that was sucking is 

 dead. The nipple in use by it has begun to shrivel, and the brown 

 secretion to form. 



" Oct. 4th. — 38th day. Hunt observed the female in the after- 

 noon putting her nose into the pouch, and licking the entry. He 

 examined her at 6 in the evening; but a slight increase of the se- 

 cretion was the only perceptible change, and there was no appear- 

 ance in the nipples indicative of approaching parturition. 



" Oct. 5th. — 39th day. Hunt examined the female at 7 a.m. and 

 found the young one attached to the nipple. No blood or albumi- 

 nous discharge could be detected on the litter, nor any trace of it 

 on the fur between the vagina and orifice of the pouch. As the 

 birth took place in the night, the mother had probably had time to 

 clear away all indications of it. 



" I repaired to the Gardens the same day and examined the pouch. 

 The young one was attached to the left superior nipple: it resem- 

 bled an earth-worm in the colour and semitransparency of its inte- 

 gument, and adhered firmly to the point of the nipple. It breathed 

 strongly but slowly, and moved its fore legs when disturbed. Its 

 body was bent upon the abdomen, its short tail tucked in between 

 the hind legs, which were about one third shorter than the fore legs, 

 but the three divisions of the toes were distinct. The whole length, 

 from the nose to the end of the tail, would not exceed 1 inch 2 lines. 

 A linear longitudinal mark of the umbilicus was apparent. 



" It has been asserted by Barton that the young of the Opossum 

 immediately after birth are in a much more imperfect condition than 

 that above described in the Kangaroo, being merely gelatinous cor- 

 puscles, comparable to a Medusa ; but the later observations of 

 Dr. Rengger on an Opossum (Didelphis Azarce> Temm.,) nearly allied 

 to the Virginian species (Did. Virginiana, Cuv.,) accord as to the 

 condition of the new-born foetus with what we have now been able to 

 ascertain with accuracy is the condition of the new-born Kangaroo. 



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

 evidently grown, and respired vigorously. I determined to detach 

 it from the nipple for the following reasons : 1st, to decide the na- 

 ture of the connexion between 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 fcetus would manifest anything like 

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

 actions of the parent herself to effect the same purpose, as we might 

 presume they would be instinctively analogous to those by means of 

 which the foetus was originally applied to the nipple, supposing that 

 to take place through the agency of the mother. 



" An organical connexion by vessels between the mammary fcetus 

 and the nipple being a necessary consequence of the 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 

 2 R2 



