162 LEAVES FROM THE 



ment of the creature reaches its proper proportions, and 

 it is able to go alone. It is right pleasant to behold 

 these curious little animals hopping or running about 

 their parents, and on the most distant approach of danger 

 flpng for refuge to the purses of their mothers, where 

 they disappear till it is past, and from whence, if they 

 think they may safely venture, they peep out to see 

 whether the coast is clear. 



This, however, is an account of the marsupialia, the 

 Animalia crumenata of Scaliger, uncoloured by the 

 slightest exaggeration. 



New Holland is the head-quarters of these anomalous 

 creatures, and there the great type of the group is 

 placed ; nor does it extend far beyond the mainland 

 among the adjacent islands. In America it is scantily 

 represented by the opossums ; but neither the colder 

 parts of that country, nor its southern extremity, know 

 it : neither do any representatives of the family occur in 

 Europe, Asia, or Africa. Here, then, we have two far- 

 distant regions presenting themselves as the two points 

 of development of a form which has not spread over 

 other portions of the earth ; and, in truth, this, combined 

 with the palseontological researches of Dr. Lund in Brazil, 

 and of our own Owen, relative to the quadrupedal fossil 

 remains of New Holland, is a strong argument for those 

 who look upon these countries as two distinct foci of 

 creation, and as affording examples, among many others, 

 militating against the notion of a unique centre of origin 

 of the animals now in existence. 



These marsupials are, as far as observation has gone, 

 of a low grade in the scale of intelligence, and their vocal 

 powers are exceedingly limited. A growl, or a sort of 

 hollow bark, is the nearest approach that is made among 

 them to a completely developed sound, and a half-hissing, 

 half-wheezing, guttural attempt at a cry, is the noise 

 most frequently emitted by them when under the influ- 



