MR. bynoe's observations. 157 



covered them, but it was of a darker hue than that 

 in the uterus, and of a saponaceous or greasy feel ; — 

 the aperture of the pouch so much contracted as 

 scarcely to admit two fingers ; wombs with their 

 cornua remarkably small, and nipples in the pouch 

 scarcely pointing, and in many instances retracted. 



*' Animals with these appearances, I concluded, 

 had never borne young. Examinations frequently 

 took place immediately after they were shot. In 

 those that had recently discarded their young from 

 the pouch, one nipple and frequently two were found 

 much lengthened, and very often one more than the 

 other. I have seen them in the wallaby frequently 

 two inches in length, and with pouches so large, 

 that you could with ease thrust your hand into them ; 

 the uteri with their appendages enlarged and ap- 

 parently very vascular, as well as thickened ; but 

 in no one instance at the " Abrolhos" could I detect 

 a gravid uterus ; but I have seen the young adher- 

 ing to the nipples less than half an inch in length, 

 and in a perfectly helpless state. It is generally 

 supposed that the uterus in the adult animal is not 

 supplied with much arterial blood, merely sufficient 

 to nourish that viscus. If such be the case, can it 

 have the power of retaining the germ in the womb, 

 when on the most minute examination of the young, 

 I could not detect, by cicatrice or line of abrasion 

 on any part of the abdomen, that they ever pos- 

 sessed umbilical vessels, or had been in any way 

 nourished by a placenta ? Let us take into considera- 



