I 



3-42 DIVISION I. VEirrEBKAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. JIAMMALIA. 



chief neculiaritv tlicu observed was tlic broad bend and very lonc^, slender 

 snout, wbicl) resembled tiie narrow neek of a wide bottle ; but in the living 

 animal the ubsenee of a tail was still more remarkable. The feet, especially 

 the fore le^s, were also singularly formed, the bitter resembling th(.)se of a 

 pig; and the marsupial opening was downwards, and not upwards, as in the 

 kangaroo, and others of that class of animals. This quadrui)cd, when dis- 

 covered bv the nati\es, was on the ground ; but on being chased, took refuge 

 in a hollow tree, from which they tt)ok it alive, all of them declaring that 

 they had never before seen an animal of the kind." 



Genus ]\lACi;orus. — Tiie Kangaroos. These animals, says Waterhouso, 

 are remarkable for the ilexii)ility and lightness of the anterior jiarts of the 

 body, the smallness of the anterior members, and the great size of the poste- 

 rior members, and of the tail. In their ordinary position the fore parts are 

 elevated, and slightly inclined forwards, and they rest upim the hinder ex- 

 tremities and tail, hence the whole weight and strength are thrown into these 

 l)arts ; the ijreat lenuth and size of the tail also serves to balance the bodv, 

 not only when in its ordinary semi-erect j)osition, I)ut in the enormous leaps 

 bv which these animals progress. The fore part of the body being elevated, 

 gives to the eye a wide range, which is essential to animals inhabiting for 

 the most part ojien plains, and whose escape from danger must be by flight. 

 The prehensile aiul unguiculate structure of the anterior extremities " ap[)car 

 to have been indispensable to animals requiring to perform various manipu- 

 lations in relatiiin to the economy of the marsupial pouch, and when such an 

 animal is destined, like the ruminant, to range the wilderness in quest of 

 pasturage, the re(piisitc powers of the anterior members are rctalni'd and 

 secured to it by an enormous development of the hinder extremities, to which 

 the fimetion of locomotion is almost I'cstricted." 



On the fore feet there are five well-developcil toes, each of which is armed 

 with a large and strong nail, and this is curved, concaxe on the under sur- 

 face and convex above; the two outer toes are the shortest, and the central 

 one is the longest. The hind feet arc furnished with one very large central 

 toe, and an outer one, which is shorter and smaller, but, like the first, armed 

 with a large, solid nail, whicii is but sligiitly curved, convex, and sometimes 

 keeled on the ujiper surface, and flat beneath : on the inner side of the foot 

 are two small, slender toes, united in one connnon integument, and having 

 the appearance of a single toe ; the nails, however, are separate, of small 

 size, and hollow beneath. These nails I have repeatedly seen used by the 

 animal to cleanse its fiu'. The tarsus is dcNdid of hair beneath, but covered 

 with minute hardened tubercles ; these are most distinct in those species 

 which inhabit rocky situations. The ears are usually of moderate size, oval 

 form, and tolerably well clothed with hair. 



