256 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 



This animal evidently varies in size in different lati- 

 tudes. ■ In Louisiana tliej grow quite large compared 

 with those inhabiting more northern climates. 



The opossum ranges in length from twelve to fifteen 

 inches, the tail is about the same extent. The body is 

 covered with a rough coating of white, gray, and brown 

 hair, so intermixed and rough, that it makes the animal 

 look as if it had been wet and then drawn through a coal- 

 hole or ash-heap. The feet, the ears, and the snout are 

 naked. 



The organs of sense and motion in this little animal 

 seem to be exceedingly dull. Their eyes are prominent, 

 hanging like black beads out of their sockets, and ap- 

 pear to be perfectly destitute of lids, with a pupil simi- 

 lar to those of a cat, which shows that they are suited 

 to midnight depredations. 



The nostrils of the opossum are evidently well de- 

 veloped, and upon the smell almost exclusively, is it de- 

 pendent for its preservation. The ears look as if they 

 were pieces of dark or soft kid skin, rolled up and fas- 

 tened in their proper places. The mouth is exceedingly 

 large and unmeaning, and ornamented with innumerable 

 sharp teeth, yet there is very little strength in the jaws. 

 The paws or hands of the animal are the seat of its 

 most delicate sensibility, and in their construction are 

 developed some of the most wonderful displays of the 

 ingenuity of an All-wise Providence, to overcome the 



