AUSTRALIAN NATUBAL HISTORY. 143 



ten small cutting teeth above and six below ; they also retain 

 their three premolars and four molars through life, and they 

 possess sometimes large canines, though their food remains grass 

 and herbs. Their grinders, studded with sharp tubercles, appear 

 admirably adapted for the insectivorous diet on which they are 

 believed to exist, but a close examination reveals the astonishing 

 fact that these teeth are inserted on the same principle as those of 

 the wombat — in one genus at least — and that they have conical 

 roots with a much smaller pair of" fangs on the inner side. In 

 the genus Peragalea, the one alluded to, the' outward appearance 

 of the grinders is perfectly wombat-like, and though a pair of 

 most powerful canines are developed, still the habits of the 

 creatures are almost entirely those of vegetarians, and excrements 

 examined by me seldom showed remains of insects. 



Fam. Dasyuridje. 



The number of teeth in this, the " native cat" family, is in one 

 genus almost as in the bandicoots, with the exception of the 

 upper cutting teeth. The bandicoots have five in each ram'us 

 above, or ten in all, and the dasyures only eight. The ordinary 

 dasyures are deficient in one premolar tooth in each ramus above 

 and below, and they approach in the form of the first molar the 

 ancient thyiacoleo — the animal with which this discourse was 

 commenced, and which now closes the circle of our marsupial 

 families who, apparently very different, are still closely connected 

 with each other, and are probably developed from some remote 

 inammalian form whereof the platypus is the only living repre- 

 sentative. 



The Bones op Marsupials. 



Having discussed the dentition of the order, it is necessary to 

 say a few words about their bones. 



The chief distinguishing characteristic of a marsupial animal's 

 skull is the vacuity of the palate, which is, however, not constant. 

 The second is the inflection of the portion of the mandibles 

 situated below the articulating condyle. The broader this inflec- 

 tion the more peaceful the animal. All highly carnivorous mar- 

 supials have this process narrow and sharp, all vegetarians broad 

 and hollow. To give an example : The process is deepest in the 

 living wombats, in the extinct Thyiacoleo, in the great kangaroos, 

 and the wallabies ; it is less deep in the rat kangaroos and 

 bettongs, in the Diprotodon and Nototherium, and in the native 

 bear. The corresponding character is a functional canine tooth 

 in the upper jaw. It may be argued that the gigantic Phalan- 

 gers, the Kototherium, Zygomaturus, and Diprotodon did not 

 possess such a tooth ; but there are no rules without exceptions, 

 and at earlier stages they may have possessed the tooth in 

 question. We only know one or two perfect skulls of aged 



