122 VERTEBRATA. MAMMALIA. 



ed. The teeth are fifty in number, thus arranged : 

 incisors 3 ; canines -j-z-J ; false molars f if ; true mo- 

 lars |If; = 50. They are small animals; from 

 the size of a cat to that of a mouse ; active chiefly 

 by night, when they run among the branches of trees, 

 in search of birds, insects, and fruits. The common 

 Opossum of the United States (D. Virginiana) is 

 a good example of the genus. It is of a grey hue ; 

 the fur thick and soft; the mouth wide, the eyes 

 small, the nose sharp and long; the general form 

 robust. It is remarkably tenacious of life, and has 

 the unaccountable property (found in many of the 

 insect tribes) of counterfeiting death, when attacked. 



Dasyurus.* 



This genus contains the rapacious Marsupials, 

 answering to the true Carnivora. The teeth are nearly 

 as in the Opossum, but there are two incisors less in 

 each jaw: and the molars are more trenchant. One 

 section of the genus has but two false molars in each 

 jaw on each side. The tail is thickly clothed with 

 hair, and is not prehensile. There are three sub- 

 genera: Thylacinus^ Dasyurus, and Phascogale.% 

 The first contains but one known species (D. Cyno- 

 cephalus}^ an animal of Van Dieman's Land, about 

 as large as a wolf, but rather lower ; greyish brown, 

 with black stripes across the body, whence it is called 



* &ctffvs, dasys, hairy, and at^a, owra, a tail. 



t 0vA.axoj, thylakos, a bag. 



W<rx<wXaj, phaskolos, a pouch, and yAj, gale, a weasel. 



Kvuv, kyon, a dog, and xtQahv, kephale, the head. 



