1S2 MR. W. A. FORBES ON THE KOALA. [Jan. 18, 



up towards the angle of the mouth) it is nearly so, a patch of black 

 hairs being developed just behind the mouth on the lower and outer 

 surface of this bare space. 



The marsupial pouch in this young specimen is very imperfectly 

 developed. It appears as a small, oval, nearly naked space, measuring 

 about O'Sinch both across and antero-posteriorly, with a well-marked 

 bounding-fold of integnment on each side ; inside which is a smaller, 

 secondary one. The hairs of the surrounding parts more or less 

 radiate from this nude space, which hes between the epipubes(or so- 

 called "marsupial bones"). The skin covering it is pinkish. The 

 teats are two^ in number, 15 millims. apart, and are situated at the 

 posterior and inner angles of the bounding-folds ; they are covered 

 by fur. The lips of the pouch, it may be noted, look as much 

 downwards as forwards. 



In an adult $ Koala, 20| inches long, preserved in spirit, the 

 pouch is much better developed — its antero-posterior extent being 

 about 1-85 inch, whilst the breadth of the aperture is 1'4 inch. It 

 admits (my) three median fingers, and extends widely outwards 

 into the groins, as far as the skin-fold between the knee and trunk. 

 The teats, two in number, are situated behind, on a level with the 

 posterior margin of the pouch's mouth. The skin lining the pouch, 

 except just around the ventral opening of the pouch, is smooth 

 throughout. 



The mucous membrane of the cheeks is smooth throughout ; the 

 skiu is attached to the gum opposite the first palatal ridge, and again 

 op])osite the posterior border of the first premolar. Between these 

 two attachments there is formed a sort of cheek-pouch, defined by a 

 distinct sphincter, and capable of receiving the end of the little 

 finger. This pouch extends upwards on the side of the skull, occu- 

 pying the somewhat oval space that exists, in the macerated skull, in 

 front of the zygoma ; it is lined by smooth, white, mucous mem- 

 brane ^. 



The palate presents 9 irregular raised ridges, best marked anle- 

 riorh'. There is no uvula, and the narrow fauces are smooth. The 

 tongue quite fills up the space between the gums. It is parallel- 

 sided and elongated, but rounded off and thinner in front. It has a 

 single, small, circumvallate papilla behind ; the fungiform papillae 

 are distributed chiefly along the sides of the upper surface. 



The salivary glands are well developed. The sublingual (which is 

 not mentioned by Martin in his description) is a long, narrow, and 

 thin gland, somewhat foliaceous at the extremity, and about 2v 

 inches in extent, lying deeply along the inner margin of the lower 

 jaw. The long duct of the submaxillary gland pierces it. I could 

 find no subzygomatic gland, as described by him {/,. c. p. 112). 



On opening the abdominal cavity the stomach is visible in the 



^ Prof. Owen (Anat. Vert. iii. p. 769) describes Phascolarctos as having four 

 [" two on each side "] mammary glands. 



^ These pouches are also, I find, described by Owen (Anat. Tert. iii. p. 385). 

 They also exist, though less well defined by a sphincter, in the Wombat ; but I 

 cannot find them in the other Phalangers I have examined. 



