MERIAN OPOSSUM. 
485 
black: in its general mode of life it resembles 
others of this genus: it produces ten or more 
young at a birth, which immediately afterwards 
affix themselves to the teats^ and remain there till 
they attain their proper growth and strength. It 
is a native of South America, and particularly of 
Surinam. 
The feet in this species are all furnished with 
sharp claws, except on the thumbs or great toes 
of the hind feet, which have rounded nails. It 
is in this particular that it seems chiefly to differ 
from the following species, or Merian Opossum, 
MERIAjST OPOSSUM. 
Didelphis Dorsigera. D. cauda basi pilosa, corpore longiore^^ 
digifis manuum muticis. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p, loy. 
Pouchless O. with naked tail^ hairy at the base, and the fore feet 
without claws. 
Geijus gliris sylvestris. Merian Surin. p. 66, t. 66, 
Mus seu sorex sylvestris Americanus. Seb, i. p. 48. /. 3 i./I I, 2, 
Philandre de Surinam. Bnjf. i^.p. i57* 
Merian Opossum. Pennant Quadr. i.p. 1"}, 
This species is so named from the celebrated 
Madame Merian, who has introduced a figure of 
it into her splendid work on the Insects of Suri- 
nam. Madame Merian's own account of the ani~ 
mal is as follows: By way of filling up a plate I 
have represented a kind of Wood-Rat, which al- 
ways carries her young ones (of which there are 
commonly five or six) upon her back : she is of a 
