CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 13. M ARSTJPIALIA. 
THE TASMANIAN WOLF. 
wonder when it was described as a "beaste tbat bath a bag under her belly in which she carries 
her young, at first no bigger than a raspberry, till they can shift for themselves." But this was 
only the beginning of wonders, for New Holland presents us with about sixty species of quadru- 
peds — carnivorous, frugivorous, and omnivorous — and nine-tenths of all are formed on the plan 
of the opossum : wolves, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, sheep, rats, mice — or creatures very much like 
them — and engaged, some in hunting and devouring other animals, some in climbing trees, some 
in flying through the air, some in grazing upon the earth, and some in swimming in the water — 
and the females of all carrying about their young ones in their pouches, which serve as cradle, 
bed, house, and home to the little family! Nor is this all: we have not only black swans 
and white eagles, singing pheasants, and a thrush that in consideration of its music is called a 
laughing jackass, but we find one quadruped that seems to be both an ant-eater and a porcupine, 
and another that is said to have the habits of a mole, the bill and feet of a duck, and the internal 
formation of a reptile ! The two last, however, belong to a diff'erent order from that which we 
are now considering. Of the marsupialia, divided by some naturalists into several families, we shall 
make a brief enumeration, grouping them, for the sake of simplicity, into genera and species only. 
Genus THYLACINUS : Thylacinus. — This includes the Tasmanian AVolf, or Zebra Opossum, 
or Zebra Wolf, T. cynocephalus. It is of the size of a small wolf, with short, smooth hair of a 
dusky yellowish-brown color, barred on the lower part of the back with sixteen black transverse 
stripes. It is the largest and most powerful carnivorous animal in Australia, is nocturnal in its 
habits, lives in retired caves, devours kangaroos and other small mammalia, and frequently com- 
mits depredations among the sheep. It is found only in Van Diemen's Land or Tasmania. 
Genus DASYURUS : Dasyurus.—Ta\% includes the Ursine Opossum, B. ursmus, called the 
Native Devil by the colonists; it is a voracious, burrowing animal of the size of a badger, found 
in Van Diemen's Land. It is eighteen inches long, with coarse, black hair, spotted with white. 
Its flesh resembles veal, and though once common, it is now scarce, in consequence of being killed 
for food. 
The Spotted Martin, or Long-tailed Dasturus, D. macrurus, is eighteen inches long, with 
a tail nearly as long as the body; its fur is chestnut-color, spotted with white. It feeds on small 
quadrupeds, and, when impelled by hunger, occasionally snaps up birds among the marshes. ^ 
Genus PHASCOGALE : Phascogale.— Of this is the P. peniciUata^ an opossum-like animal 
of the size of the brown rat, ash-colored above and white beneath, with a full tail ; it is found in 
Australia, and lives on trees. There afe several species, one no bigger than the common mouse. 
YoL. I.— 84 
