26 



MAMMALIA. 



three sorts of teeth ; a big toe, "which is null or rudimentary on the 

 hind feet ; sharp nails ; the tail long and well covered with hair, hut 

 never prehensile. They are more or less nocturnal in their habits. 

 Some attain to a rather large size, and are much di'eaded by the 

 Australian colonists, who rank them with certain species of true 

 Carnivora. This family contains the genera Thylacin, Sarcophile, 

 Dasyure properly so called, and Phascogale. 



The only species of the genus Thylacin (Fig. 9) is the strongest 



-Sooty Plialanger {Phalangista vulpina, Vaj'.). 



and fiercest of all the Marsupials. It was formerly common in 

 Tasmania, where it is often compared to the Wolf, as it is about the 

 same size, and has the same sanguinary appetites as that animal. 

 Like the Wolf, it frequently falls upon flocks of Sheep, which oifer 

 it an easy prey. Very common along the coast, it lives principally, 

 it 18 said, on animal remains thrown up by the sea on to the 

 shore ; it also eats crabs. 



Although smaller than the above, the Sarcophile has the same 

 spirit of destruction, the same taste for flesh : indeed, it subsists 



