224 



ZOOLOGY. 



In some the young are born with the eyes open, and are 

 ready at once to seek their nourishment ; but a great number 

 are born with the ryes dosed, ;m<l in a state of great feeble- 

 ness, so that they can scarcely move; and some being born as 

 it were before their term, could not live, were they not to 

 attach themselves to the tit of the mother, to which they 

 remain as it were suspended. To such animals generally, 

 thus imperfectly developed at birth, the integuments 

 of the lower part of the belly form a pouch in front 

 of the mammae, in which the young are lodged for a 

 time. This structure characterizes the opossums of the 



. 171. The Opossum. 



New World, and the kangaroo and other marsupial animals 

 of Australia. The young, placed in this pouch by the mother, 

 attach themselves each to a nipple, and remain suspended 

 tlu-re until sufficiently strong to leave the pouch, to which. 

 however, they return as to a place of safety, until sufficiently 

 grown to act for themselves. 



