ORDER XI. THE MARSUPIALIA. 335 



n, tuft of long black liair at the tip of tlie ears. In summer, the hair 

 beeouics a grayish-browu. 



The domesticated white rabbits, with pink eyes, which are now so com- 

 mon, are albinoes. They arc pretty animals but by no means as hitclligcnt 

 and sprightly as the wild species. 



There are thirty-one species of hares, but our limited space does not 

 admit of further description. 



ORDER XI. — THE JIARSUPIALIA. 



The name of this order is derived from the Latin word tiHirsxpiinii, a 

 purse or pouch, and has reference to that peculiar a])pendage attached to the 

 belly of the animal into which the young are received at birth, and where 

 they are nourished imtil capable of selt-support. The opossums oi' the 

 American continent were the first specimens of this order known to science; 

 but the discoveries of later j-ears indicate that Australasia is the great cen- 

 tral home of the pouch-bearing animals. In that remarkable region nature 

 seems to have taken especial delight in this form of animal life, as there are 

 already known upwards of seventy species of ilarsupials, while but eigiiteen 

 species altogether of otlier groups of quadrupeds have as yet been dis- 

 covered. Althougli the members of this order are united by certain well- 

 defined characters, as the abdominal pouch, the marsu[)ial bones, a similar 

 formation of the brain, and, with the exception of two genera, which are 

 toothless, a more perfect dentition than any other of the placental mamma- 

 lia, tliey still offer so many dilferences of organization, that it has been 

 found convenient to separate them into several families, at the head of which 

 is placed the opossum, as typical of the group, under the generic term of 

 Dklelphys. 



Genus DiDELPiiYS. — The Opossums. Tlic opossums, says ]\Ir. Water- 

 house, may be at once distinguished from other mammalia by the great 

 number of their incisors, of which there are ten in the upper jaw, and eight 

 in the lower, making together eighteen, which are two more than arc found 

 in any other marsupial animal, and six more than are found in any placcnt 

 quadru}>ed. 



"The fore feet in the opossums arc furnished with five well-developed 

 toes, which are armed with tolerably strong, comjiresscd, and curved claws; 

 the outer and inner toes are shorter tjian the others. The hind feet are 

 furnished witli fiur toes, having the same kind of claws as those of the fore 

 feet, and a large inner clawless toe (formed like a thumb), which is opposed 

 to the other toes. The tail is usually long, always more or less prehensile, 

 sparingly covered with hair, and exhibiting scales, like the tail of a rat. The 



