Til 



MABSUPIATA. 



MARSUPIATA. 



710 



Teth of Pkauolamy$, or Wombt (F. Cuvlor), nearly of the natural ilze. 



inches and 5-1 Oths. The bead is 7 inches and the tail 5-1 Oths. Its 

 circumference behind the fore legs 27 inches; across the. thickest part 

 of the belly 31 inches. Its weight by hand is somewhat between 25 

 and 30 Ibs. The hair is coarse, and about one inch or one inch and 

 five-tenths in length, thinly set upon the belly, thicker on the back and 

 bead, and thickest upon the loins and rump ; the colour of it a light 

 sandy brown of varying shades, but darkest along the back." The head 

 is large, flattUh, and nearly triangular when viewed in front ; the ears 

 are sharp and erect; the eyes small and rather sunken than prominent, 

 but quick and lively. 



Wombat 



V'omlat). 



From the same work we take tbe following account of the habits, 

 Ac., of U> specie* : " Thin animal has not any claim to swiftness of 

 foot, as mo*t men could run it down. IU pace is hobbling or shuffling, 

 something like the awkward gait of a bear. In disposition it is mild 



and gentle, as become* a graas-eater ; but it bite* hard, and is furious 

 when provoked. Mr. BAM never heard it* voice but at that time; it 

 was a low cry between a hissing and a whizzing, whyih could not be 

 heard at a dut&noe of more than thirty or forty yards. He chased 

 one, and with his bands under his l>elly suddenly lifted him off the 

 ground without hurting him, and laid him upon his back along his 

 arm like a child. It made no noise, nor any effort to escape, not even 

 a struggle. Its countenance was placid and undisturbed, and it seemed 

 as contented as if it had been nursed by Mr. Bass from its infancy. 

 He carried the beast upwards of a mile, and often shifted him from 

 arm to arm, sometime* laying him upon his shoulder, all of whk'i he 

 took in good part ; until, being obliged to secure his leg* while he 

 went into the brush to cut a specimen of a new wood, the creature'* 

 anger arose with the pinching of the twine ; he whizzed with all hi* 

 might, kicked and scratched most furiously, and snapped off a piece 

 from the elbow of Mr. Bass's jacket with his grass-cutting teeth. 

 Their friendship was here at an end, and the creature remained 

 implacable all the way to tbe boat, ceasing to kick only when he was 

 exhausted. This circumstance seems to indicate that with kind treat- 

 ment the Wombat might soon be rendered extremely docile ; but let 

 his tutor beware of giving him provocation, at least if be should be 

 full grown. Besides Furneaux's Islands, the Wombat inhabits, as has 

 been seen, the mountains to the westward of Port Jackson. In both 

 these places its habitation is underground, being admirably formed 

 for burrowing ; but to what depth it descends does not seem to be 

 ascertained. According to the account given of it by the natives, the 

 Wombat of tbe mountains is never seen during the day, but lives 

 retired in his hole, feeding only in the night ; but that of the inlands 

 is seen to feed in all parts of the day. His food is not yet well known ; 

 but it seems probable that he varies it according to the situation in 

 which be may be placed. The stomachs of such as Mr. Bass examined 

 were distended with the coarse wiry gross, and he as well as others 

 had seen the animal scratching among the dry ricks of sea-weed thrown 

 up upon tbe shores, but could never discover what it was in search of. 

 Now the inhabitant of the mountains can have no recourse to the sea- 

 shore for his food, nor can he find there any wiry grass of the islands, 

 but must live upon the food that circumstances present to him." 



A letter from James Hunter, Esq., Governor of the settlement, dated 

 Sydney, New South Wales, August fi, 1798, and published in Bewick's 

 ' Quadrupeds,' states that this animal, there called the Wombach, was 

 found upon an island on the coast of New South Wales, in 40 36' 

 S. lat, where considerable numbers were caught by the company of a 

 ship which had been wrecked there on her voyage from Bengal to 

 Fort Jackson. The same communication relates that it had " lately 

 been discovered to be an inhabitant of the interior of this country 

 also. The mountain natives call it the Wotnbach." 



The specimen dissected by Sir Everard Home in 1803 was brought 

 from one of the islands in Bass's Straits, and lived as a domestic pet 

 in the house of Mr. Clift for two years. 



The individual dissected by Professor Owen in May, 1836, had lived 

 at the Gardens of the Zoological Society upwards of five yean. 



M. Lesson says that it lives in King's Island and the Furneaux Islands, 

 but that it does not exist in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson. 



The anatomy of the Wombat will be found in Cuvier's ' Lecons 

 d'Anatomie Comparce,' in Sir Everard Home's paper, ' Phil. Trans.,' 

 1808, and in Professor Owen's memoir, ' ZooL Proc.,' 1836. The latter 

 observes that the digestive organs in the abdominal cavity presented a 

 development corresponding generally to that which characterises the 

 same parts in the phytophagous Rodents. It has a very short caecum. 



Tbe flesh of the Wombat is said to be excellent Mr. Hunter, the 

 writer of the letter above quoted, terms it delicate meat, and some 

 have remarked that the animal might be easily naturalised in this 

 country. 



The impression made upon us by Mr. Bass's account of the beha- 

 viour of the Wombat which he caught, and by one that we have seen 

 in captivity, ia, that the animal is of a low grade in point of intellect. 

 In both cases, as long as there was no positive pain or disagreeable 

 sensation, the animal was content, however new its situation might be. 

 There was none of that anxiety and uneasiness which all animals of 

 lively sense show when suddenly placed in new positions, or in strange 

 places ; and indeed the following note is appended to Mr. Baas'* 

 account of the capture of his Wombat : " The Kangooroo and *ome 

 other animals in New South Wales were remarkable for being domes- 

 ticated as soon as taken." This may be one of the consequences of 

 the low cerebral development generally to be observed in this group. 



There are at present (1855) several specimen* in the gardens of the 

 Zoological Society, which are remarkably tame, and readily present 

 themselves at the palisades of their inclosure to be caressed. 



The following list, showing the distribution of the Marsupiata in 

 Australia, will supply also the name* of the species not already 

 mentioned in the preceding account : 



South Australia. 



Maeroptu giganteut. Macroptu ' 



M. lunalut. M. Eugenii (Nuyt's Archipelago! 



M. Itporoide*. if, Derlianni (from islands off the 



M. f racial m. coast). 



M. rufut. Jlyptiprymnui Grayi. 



