January 22, 1839. 

 The Rev. F. W. Hope in the chair. 



At the request of the chairman, Mr. Garnett exhibited a living 

 Jerboa (apparently the Dipus jEgyptiacus) , which had been sent to 

 him from the Cape of Good Hope, but Mr. Garnett stated that he 

 ■was not aware whether it had been captured in that part of Africa. 



Professor Owen concluded his paper entitled, " Outlines of a 

 Classification of the Marsupialia." " The rich stores of the Mena- 

 gerie and Museum of the Zoological Society," observes Mr. Owen, 

 "having afforded me frequent opportunities of examining the ana- 

 tomy of various and rare species of the Marsupial order ; the endea- 

 vour to express in general propositions the more important facts 

 relative to their organization ; to state in which particulars so many 

 agreed or differed ; has naturally compelled me to acquire certain 

 ideas respecting their Zoological distribution." 



In the first part of the paper, Professor Owen defines the general 

 characters of the Marsupialia ; he then proceeds to consider their 

 mutual affinities ; and, as closely connected with this subject, com- 

 mences with some observations on their size, their geographical dis- 

 tribution, and their habits. 



The carnivorous Marsupial animals belonging to the genera Thyla- 

 cinus and Dasyurus are compared to the Carnivora in the placental 

 series; and the Bandicoots (Perameles) , and Myrmecobians are re- 

 presented, as typifying, or playing corresponding parts with those 

 allotted to the placental Insectivora. Those Marsupisils which have 

 an omnivorous diet, live in trees, are provided with a prehensile 

 tail, and have a thumb on the hinder extremities, are said to typify 

 the Quadrumana, and the tailless Koala is compared to the arboreal 

 Sun-Bears of the Indian Archipelago. 



" Another genus of Marsupialia, the Wombat," says Mr. Owen, 

 " presents the dentition which characterizes the placental Rodentia ; 

 and the Petaurists, like the Flying Squirrels, have a parachute 

 formed by broad duplications of the skin extending laterally be- 

 tween the fore and hind legs. 



" The Kangaroos are the true herbivorous Marsupialia, and many 

 interesting physiological conditions present themselves to the mind 

 in contemplating the singular construction and proportions of these 

 animals. It would appeal- that the peculiarities of their gestation 

 rendered indispensably necessary the possession of a certain prehen- 

 sile faculty of the anterior extremities, with a free movement of the 

 digits and a rotatory power of the fore-arm, in relation to the mani- 

 pulations of the pouch and of the embryo developed therein. At 

 the same time a herbivorous quadruped must possess great powers 

 of locomotion in order to pass from pasture to pasture and to avoid 



