THE YOUNG IN THE POUCH 
perfect pouch (marsupium) on the hinder part of the abdomen, 
within which are the numerous teats. 
The instant an embryo is dropped the mother picks it up 
with her fore paws and places it within the pouch, where it 
crawls about until it touches and instinctively takes hold of one 
of the threadlike teats. 
The minute creature, 
soft, blind, and naked, 
has as yet no properly 
formed mouth, but in- 
stead a temporary ar- 
rangement of muscles 
by which it clings 
automatically to the 
nipple. It cannot 
suck, and is nourished 
by the mother forcing 
jets of milk down its 
throat; and lest this 
should choke its 
breathing, its wind- 
pipe is extended up 
to a junction with 
the nostrils, which 
state of things con- 
tinues for several 
weeks, or until the A ROCK WALLABY, WITH YOUNG IN POUCH. 
animal is able to 
some extent to shift for itself. It then wakes up, stirs about, 
and leaves the pouch now and then, but returns to it for 
nursing, sleeping, and protection when alarmed, until finally it 
departs altogether. 
This arrangement, with which many minor peculiarities are 
associated, was long regarded as more primitive than the 
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