200 



MAMMALIA. 



other four have their crowns marked with four rather 

 smooth tubercles. These circumstances indicate a 

 certain degree of the carnivorous character, though 

 not a very decided one ; and their digestive organs, 

 and also their cheek teeth, indicate a more vegetable 

 habit than any of those which we have already de- 

 scribed. In their forms they bear a considerable 

 resemblance to the kanguroos ; and the chief differ- 

 ence consists in their having canines in the upper 

 jaw. The hind legs are very long as compared with 

 the fore ones ; the thumbs are entirely wanting, and 

 the first and second toes are closely united up to the 

 nails, which gives them the appearance of having 

 three toes on the hind foot, with two nails on the 

 inner one. They can walk, or rather leap, upon the 

 two hind feet, and use their fore paws something in 

 the manner of hands. The size of this animal is about 

 the same as that of a young rabbit, and its colour 

 resembles that of the common shrew. Illiger gave it 

 the name of Hypsiprymnus, which means elevated on 

 the hind legs, or at the crupper ; and Shaw and some 

 others classed it with the kanguroos, from which, 

 however, it is evidently distinguished by the canines 

 in the upper jaw, and the unequal length of the 

 incisive teeth in the same. It is, however, what 

 naturalists are in the habit of calling a link between 

 the phalangers and the kanguroos, partaking much 

 more of the general form of the latter, but agreeing 

 with the former in the general structure of the teeth, 

 with the exception of the particulars that have been 

 noticed. There appear to be several species of this 

 animal, or more strictly speaking varieties, inasmuch 

 as almost their only differences are those of size and 

 colour, which may be produced by mere difference of 

 locality. 



The kanguroos may be said to form the last genus 

 of this part of the marsupial animals; and they are 

 the most decidedly vegetable feeders of the whole. 

 Their front teeth are the same as in the last men- 

 tioned, and their cheek teeth are the same in number, 

 but they are entirely without canine teeth, and in 

 their native locality they subsist entirely upon vege- 

 table matter. Both they and the last mentioned 

 species have the stomach divided in two separate 

 sacs. Their general structure and manners have 

 been noticed, accompanied by an illustrative figure 

 in a former part of this article ; and some account of 

 the species and popular notice of their habits may be 

 seen in the article KANGUROO; so that we need only 

 mention further in this place that they are not con- 

 fined to New Holland, but that some small ones at 

 least occur in the Molucca Islands, where they are 

 called rabbits by the Malays. Macropus (large foot) 

 was the generic name given to these animals by 

 Shaw, which Illiger proposed to alter for Halmaturus 

 (leaping tail), which is the more correct name of the 

 two; because, though some other leaping animals 

 have the hind legs proportionally as long as the 

 kanguroos, there are none which make so much use 

 of the tail in leaping. 



Only two genera of the marsupial animals of New 

 Holland remain to be noticed ; and each of these 

 requires to be formed into a separate section. The 

 first, the Koala, has six cutting teeth above and two 

 below, as in several of the genera already mentioned ; 

 two false grinders above and none below ; and four 

 other grinders in each jaw, but with two tuberculous 

 protuberances on the crown of each, and not in any 

 respect the true grinding crowns of the vegetable 



feeding mammalia. The claws in this animal are 

 sharp and rather crooked ; and they spread out so as 

 to act against each other in the same manner as the 

 feet of squirrels. The animal climbs readily, but 

 does not leap expertly. The young are brought forth 

 in their early stage ; but as carrying it in a pouch, or 

 on, the under side of the body, would not suit the 

 climbing habit of the mother, it is carried on the 

 upper part of the neck, to which it clings firmly, and 

 the mother is enabled to climb without any danger 

 of its falling off. Besides climbing, the animal bur- 

 rows expertly, and its food is understood to be 

 almost wholly vegetable, consisting of dried grass and 

 withered stalks of plants. It is an exceedingly inof- 

 fensive animal. The generic name Phascolarctos 

 means a bear furnished with a pouch ; but there is 

 very little of the character of the true bears either in 

 the appearance or the habits of the animal. 



The WOMBAT (Phascolomys pouched rat) is the 

 last which is yet known, and it is one of the most 

 peculiar animals of the whole. It agrees in the gene- 

 ral character with the rest of the marsupial animals ; 

 and therefore there is no question as to its belonging 

 to this order or sub-class of the mammalia. It does 

 not, however, agree in the usual characters of classi- 

 fication, as for instance in the teeth, or in the articula- 

 tion of the jaws. The lower jaw is articulated with a 

 mere opening and shutting motion in the manner of the 

 carnivorous animals, and wants entirely the grinding 

 action by a slight backwards and forwards motion, 

 which characterises the rodentia. The teeth in the 

 front of the mouth are two in each jaw, very stout, 

 short, thick, and flat, the upper ones inclining towards 

 each other at their extremities, and both rounded oft' 

 so as to present oblique oval discs, with a rounded 

 edge to the front. There are no false grinders or 

 canines in either jaw ; and the number of true grinders 

 in each is five, with flattened oval crowns, but divided 

 by a central furrow across the middle of each. Al- 

 though, therefore, the mouth of this animal does not 

 exactly resemble that of the typical rodent mamma- 

 lia, which are not marsupial, yet they approach nearer 

 to these than to those of any other animals. The 

 wombat is plantigrade, with four toes on all the feet, 

 only the thumbs on the hind ones are mere tuberclos ; 

 and the claws are long and strong, and well adapted 

 for burrowing. The ears are very small, and almost 

 concealed among the rough fur of the animal ; and 

 the eyes are also very small ; both circumstances 

 indicating that the animals are habitual burrowers in 

 the ground. They appear to be among the most 

 passive of the mammalia. They can be tamed, or 

 rather they will live with those who feed them ; bu^ 

 they show nearly equal indifference to good and bad 

 treatment ; and though perfectly harmless, they seem 

 incapable of being turned to any useful account, 

 farther than that of being eaten, for which purpose it 

 is said that their flesh is not badly adapted ; and as 

 their food is entirely vegetable, and their lives spent 

 with exceedingly fittle labour, it is by no means 

 improbable that this may be the case, though enough 

 is not known of their habits for enabling us to judge 

 whether their productiveness is such as would render 

 them of much, or even of any, value in a state of 

 domestication. With these animals we shall close 

 our brief examination of the marsupialia ; and we 

 have made that enumeration rather less brief than it 

 might have been, in order to save the space that 

 would be occupied by a separate article MARSUPIALIA, 



