350 DIVISION I. VEETEBK.VL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. MAJIJIALLA. 



soiiietiincs by tlic Australian colonists, the j^ijOKj iiionse. It is of a dusky- 

 brown color, and is numerous in the vicinity of I'ort Jackson. 



Genus I'liAscOLAiiCTOs. — This genus contains but one species, /*. fits- 

 ciis, (jr the koala. The length of the animal is twenty-live inches. The 

 head is short, and tlie ears are clothed with a very long fur. Tiic general 

 color is ashy-gray, but the rump and lower parts of the body are white. 

 The koala climbs trees, and feeds upon the leaves and fruits. In its mode 

 of I'limbing, it resembles a bear. Tiie female c^iu'rics her young one on her 

 back when it is capable of lea\ing the pouch, until it has attained a consid- 

 eraiile size. 



Genus I'iiASCOLO.MVS. — This genus comprises but a single species. 



Plm.scoloiuiis Wonib(d. — The Wombat. This is rather a large animal, 

 three feet in length, with short limbs, and stout, heavy body. The fur is 

 coarse, of a gray color, mottled with black and white. It is i'onnd in nearly 

 all [larts of Australasia. A\'hcu enraged it emits a hissing sound, which can 

 be heard at a considerable distance. It is slow in its iuo\'emcnts, feeds on 

 "■rass and roots, and constructs its retreat in the earth. 



The two animals we are about to introduce to the reader constitute, 

 according to some naturalists, a distinct order. Ciuier classes them with 

 the Edi'iituhi: but ihcy differ essentially frcjui that order in their anatomical 

 structiu-e, while the possession of llic marsupial bnnes, and sc\cral other 

 marsupial charac'tcrs, and the fact that they are inhabitants of a region 

 where the manunalians arc almost exclusively of this order, justify their con- 

 sideration in connection with the ]Marsupialia. 



ErlniliiK Ihislrix. — ]\Ir. A\'aterli()use remarks on this animal, that it is 

 "about the size of a hcdgrhog, which it reseniljlcs in being covered with 

 spines." The head of the echidna is elongated, and the muzzle resembles 

 a beak. The mouth has no teeth, but is furnished with an extensile tongue. 

 The echidna is found in New South A\'alcs, in the islands of Bass's Straits, 

 and in \m\ Diemen's Laud. It bm-rows with great facility, and lives upon 

 insects, which, like the ant-eaters, it procures by means of its long, slender 

 tongue, which is always covered with a viscous matter. 



Jlessrs. Bass and Flinders, when at Twofold Bay, state that their dogs 

 found a porcupine ant-eater, or echidna, but that the dogs made no impres- 

 sion on the animal, which escaped by burrowing in the loose sand, not head 

 foremost, biit by sinking himself directly downwards, and thus presenting 

 nothing but his prickly back to his adversaries. 

 I A living specimen of the echi<lna was procured by ]\Iessrs. Quoy and 



j Gaimard, at Ilobart Town, and these naturalists furnish us with an 



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