22 



NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY 



CHAPTER V. 



Phascolomys Wombat. — Peron. Desm. 

 Didelphis — . Shaw. 



We think it the duty of every naturalist, as far as lies in his 

 power, to make known to science whatever particulars he can col- 

 lect concerning the habits and instincts of those animals which are 

 indigenous in that part of the country in which he resides ; and 

 also to correct, where he can, statements made by parties entirely 

 unacquainted, esc visu, with their mode of living, where they are 

 at variance with facts. Never was correction more needed than in 

 the "Notes on the Natural History of Australasia," recently published 

 in the "Melbourne Monthly Magazine;" and we lose no time ere 

 such absurd ideas become more generally diffused. 



At page 100 we read: — 



" Although there is a spinal extenuation, it is destitute of a tail." 



* * * * * 



"It has no pouch." 



"They possess a greater abundance of fat than any other Australian quadruped, 

 which when boiled down makes excellent candles." 



***** 



"The male shares with the dam the duties of rearing their young." 



" Each strives, by parental kindness, to exceed the other in attending to their 



offspring. This particular tendency on the part of the wombat may be ordained by 



nature to compensate for the loss of the pouch." 



Without noticing these remarks seriatim, we will describe, for the 

 information of our readers who are not residing near wombat set- 



