A MARSUPIAL DOG 



about this and of course other marsupials is the exist- 

 ence of a pouch ; but the thylacine is remarkable in 

 the fact that the male has very considerable traces of 

 this pouch, which are not, however, large enough to 

 render it a functional organ for the protection of the 

 newly born young. The name thylacine signifies, of 

 course, pouched dog. The inhabitants of Tasmania 

 call it also tiger and hyaena, these names being suggested 

 by the transverse stripes upon the body. It is more 

 like a dog than anything else ; its head is long with a 

 long muzzle, and the skull at first sight is so like that 

 of Canis that it was frequently used as a " catch " in 

 examinations. The proper marsupial characters are 

 there, but masked by superficial resemblances. The 

 thylacine is now limited to Tasmania, and it has been 

 suggested that the advent of the dingo dog, which 

 accompanied as is thought the Australians in their 

 wanderings, is partly responsible for its disappearance 

 from the mainland of Australia, where it once lived. 

 Its days will probably not be long in the land where 

 it now abides ; for it has the pernicious habit of sheep 

 stealing and the further habit of killing a new sheep 

 each time that it feels in want of a snack. So the 

 Tasmanian farmers, probably influenced more by 

 economic than zoological considerations, will see to it 

 that the thylacine does not multiply excessively. It 

 has, however, this advantage in battling for life with 

 the colonists, that it apparently can produce four young 

 at a birth. We have spoken of the superficial likeness 

 which the thylacine bears to a dog. This likeness is 

 more apparent in stuffed animals than in the live 

 Tasmanian wolf. The spry alertness of the dog is re- 

 placed in life by a gloomy, distrustful, and unintellectual 

 appearance, which is most unsuggestive of any dog. 

 The thylacine has a curious habit which has been lately 

 adverted upon. When standing at ease it plants down 



