ORDER CARNASSIER. 15 



true oviductus that arrives in the pouch, and is ingrafted, 

 as it were, on the nipple. If the uterine artery be without 

 power, the propagated inflammation must be impossible, 

 and nothing, as far as the uterus is concerned. This action 

 then devolves entirely on the epigastric artery ; but the 

 ovule cannot derive any thing from it, for it contains only 

 a germ imperceptible to our senses. This inflammatory 

 action we alluded to, can be operative only at all the points 

 where the epigastric terminates ; that is, at the mammary 

 gland, and the dermis which surrounds it. The dermis can 

 derive nothing from this, unless it be in a state of deve- 

 lopment beyond what is requisite for its condition as a mere 

 tegumentary organ. On this principle we can explain the 

 folds of which the pouch is formed, and the augmentation 

 of its volume under the influence of the phenomena of 

 generation. 



There has been no question in the works of anatomists 

 concerning the existence of an uterus in the Marsupiata. 

 M. Geoffroy enters into a long discussion on this point, in 

 which it would be inconsistent with the nature and limits 

 of our work to follow him. We shall, therefore, proceed 

 to other peculiarities of the Marsupiata, adding only that 

 M. Geoffroy's opinion on the whole is, that they are born in 

 the state of Medusae in the second uterus, the pouch. 



We shall venture a few more general remarks on their 

 organization : — 



The organs of sense do not present any very strong pecu- 

 liarity, or, at least, any thing very different from those of 

 ordinary Mammalia ; and that cannot, to a certain point, 

 be explained by the circumstances in which these animals 

 live. 



Thus the skin is always covered with genuine hairs al- 

 together similar to those of the other Mammalia, more or 

 less long according to the different species and different parts 



