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NATURAL HISTORY. 



in number) are solid and but little curved, whilst the four on the hind feet are curved and concave 

 beneath. It has long moustache hairs, and plenty of them. Sir Everard Home had one, and he found 

 that its principal desire was to get into the ground, and to do this it worked with great skill and 

 rapidity, covering itself with earth with surprising quickness. It was very quiet during the day, but was 

 in constant motion during the night; was very sensible of cold ; ate all vegetables, and was particularly 

 fond of new hay, which it ate stalk by stalk, taking it into its mouth like a Bear, in small bits at a time. 

 It was not wanting in intelligence, and appeared attached to those to whom it was accustomed, and 



who were kind to it. When it saw them, it would put up its fore-paws on their knees, and when taken 

 up would sleep on the lap. It allowed children to pull and carry it about, and when it bit them it 

 did not appear to do so in anger or with violence. When wild, the Wombat hides up during the day, 

 and quits its retreat at night, to dig and get grass and roots. It is by no means an active animal, and 



shuffles along like a Bear. The Wombat has a slit-like, imperfect 

 marsupium, and the special peculiarities of its order, such as mar- 

 supial bones, the inflected lower jaw, and double uterus. On the hind 

 foot the innermost or first toe is very small, nailless, and placed at 

 right angles to the foot, and the second, third, and fourth toes are 

 joined by skin, and have larger claws than the small fifth toe. The 

 stomach is simple, and has a peculiar glandular apparatus, and the 

 caecum is short, and has an appendage as in man and some monkeys. 

 The teeth are remarkable for their number in relation to those of the 

 Kangaroos, and for having no rootlets. The incisor teeth greatly resemble those of a Rodent, like 

 the Rat. They are two in number in each jaw, and are widely separated from the other teeth. The 

 molars are long, curved, and, like the incisors, have no true fangs, but persistent pulps. They are 

 divided into two nearly equal parts by a fold of the enamel entering deeply into the body of the 

 tooth on one side, and a slight indentation on the opposite side. 



The number of the persistent teeth is as follows : Incisors, f ; true molars, |Ei It is the only 



LOWER JAW OF THE WOMBAT. 



