354, 



CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



tionably furnish one of the most elegant and delicate furs with which we are acquainted. 

 Acrobates pygmceus belong to the same tribe. 



The 



THE ASHY KOALA.* 



THIS animal is thick and- stoutly made, with robust limbs and powerful claws. The head is large, 

 the muzzle blunt, and the naked space in which the nostrils are situated is continued along the nasal 

 bones, tilf it nearly attains the level of the eyes. The ears are large, standing out from the sides ot 

 the head, and tufted with long, full fur ; the eyes are small. There is no tail. The fore feet have 

 each five toes, armed with large, sharp claws ; these toes are divided into two sets ; the first two 

 forming a pair by themselves, and antagonising with the other three. The hind feet have also five 



THE I'OTOROO RAT. 



toes, a large and powerful thumb, destitute of a nail, and well padded beneath, and four strongly- 

 clawed toes, of which the first two are united together, as far as the last joint. This animal has 

 thirty teeth. The fur is compact, woolly, and of an ashy-gray, patched with white over the 

 crupper ; the inside of the thigh is rusty -gray. 



The Koala is a native of New South Wales. Its habits are arboreal and nocturnal ; it climbs 

 with great facility, and, in passing along the branches, suspends itself by its claws, like a sloth. The 

 female carries its young, when able to leave the pouch, on its back, and long continues its care of 

 them. It visits the ground, where its gait resembles that of a bear, and where it digs burrows with 

 facility. It is said to make a nest in its underground retreat, and to lie there dormant during the 

 cold season. The native name, koala, signifies " biter." 



A genus t formed by Illiger, may be described as follows : Head elongated ; ears large ; the 



' I'hascolaritos cinereua ; P. CUBCUS : Desmarest. 



) Hypsiprymnus. 



