ORDER CARNASSIER. 29 



Shaw's figure is from a stuffed specimen in the Leve- 

 rian Museum, and the tail by some mistake was carried 

 upwards. 



Almost all travellers, struck with the singular organiza- 

 tion of this animal, and above all, with the peculiar mode 

 in which it brings up its young, have entered into some de- 

 tails respecting its character and structure. None, however, 

 have been more exact on this subject, than M. D'Azara, 

 who was the first to designate the Opossum by the appella- 

 tion of Micoure. 



" It is so common," says he, " that they are frequently 

 seen dead about the villages, and even in the streets of 

 Montevideo. The female has the whole length of the belly 

 cleft or slit, and appearing like a person's waistcoat but- 

 toned only at the top and bottom. This cavity the animal 

 has the power of firmly closing. Within it are thirteen 

 teats, extremely small, one in the centre, and the rest 

 ranged round it." 



When non-adult, the cleft is scarcely visible ; the pouch 

 therefore, it appears, is not developed until the animal has 

 occasion for its use. 



D'Azara speaks of one which had thirteen young, similar 

 to the mother, and about half her size. They had ceased 

 to suck, and indeed the pouch, which they no longer at- 

 tempted to enter, could not have contained them ; but the 

 mother carried them about fixed to her tail, legs, &!<:d 

 body; in this situation it was with difficulty she could 

 move, and impossible for her to find sustenance for all 

 of them. 



In those genera, where the species are strongly distin- 

 guished from each other by colours, form, or organic modi- 

 fication, a slight inaccuracy in figuring them, a trivial de- 

 flection from the truth, can be of little consequence, and 

 can lead to no material error. This, however, is not uni- 

 versally true. The species of the Sarigues are inter-dis- 



