MARSUPIATA. 105 
[The author enumerates three, to which four have since been added by Mr. Ogilby, and an eighth by M. Geoffroy. 
These animals keep in holes of trees till twilight, and for an hour or two after sunset are observed eating the 
leaves of the different Eucalypti ; also, in retired places, those with the young shoots of fruit-trees. The Ph. vul- 
pina is known as the Brush-tailed Opossum in Van Diemen’s Land, and the Ph. CooMi, as the Ring-tailed 
Opossum.l 
The Petaurists {Petaurus, Shaw ; Phalangista, Illig.) — 
Have the skin of the flanks more or less extended between the legs, as in the Colugos, and Taguans 
among the Rodents, by which they are enabled to sustain themselves in the air for some seconds, and 
to make greater leaps. They have been found only in New Holland. 
Some of the species still possess inferior canines, but extremely small. Their upper canines and 
the three first molars, both above and below, are very pointed ; the back molars have each four points 
[the last excepted, in which there are but three]. M. Desmarest has named this division Acrobates. 
[It possesses thirty-six teeth in all.] 
The Pygmy Petaurist {Bid. pigmcea, Shaw). — Of the colour and nearly the size of a Mouse ; the hairs of the tail 
disposed very regularly on its two sides like the barbs of a feather. 
Other species have no inferior canines, and the superior are very small. Their four back molars 
each present four points, but a little curved into a crescent, somewhat as observed in the Ruminants. 
Anteriorly, there are two above and one below, less complicated : this structure renders them still 
more frugivorous than any of the preceding. [Their teeth amount in all to thirty-four.] 
The Great Petaurist {Bid. petaurus, Shaw ; P. taguanoides, Desm.)— Resembles the Tagaun and the Colugo in 
i| size : its fur is soft and thick, and the tail long and [not in those which I have seen] flattened : brown-black 
! above, white underneath. 
I The Sciurine Petaurist (Did. rnwrea, Shaw). — Ash-coloured above, white beneath, and smaller than the pre- 
I ceding; a brown line commencing on the muzzle and continued along the back : the tail tufted, and as long as the 
i body, its posterior portion black. From the islands near New Guinea. [It is abundant along the south coast of 
' New Holland. The teeth are forty in number, and exhibit considerable modification ; hence this animal has been 
I made a separate division of the Belidea, Waterh. There are but four true molars to each jaw, with comparatively 
blunt tubercles originally ; three false molars and a middle-sized canine above, and four small flattened teeth 
! below : the palate also is in this group perfect, whereas it is not so in the two others. Four or five species are 
i known to possess these characters. 
The remainder appertain to the same minimum group as P. taguanoides.'] 
Our third subdivision possesses the incisors and superior canines of the preceding. The 
ii two toes of the hind-foot are also similarly united ; but the posterior thumbs and inferior 
i| canines are wanting. It contains but a single genus, 
i 
I The Potoroos {Hypsiprymnus, lUig.), — 
i! Which are the last animals of this family that retain any trace of the general character of the Car- 
jl naria. Their teeth are nearly the same as in the Phalangers, and they still have pointed canines above 
i, [which all but disappear in one species]. Their two middle upper incisors are longer than the rest, 
il and pointed; the two inferior ones project forwards. They have anteriorly a long trenchant and 
i| dentelated molar, followed by four others, each with four blunt tubercles. 'What particularly distinguishes 
ji these animals, however, is their hind legs, which are very much longer in proportion than their fore 
''j ones, that have no thumbs, and the two first toes of which are joined as far as the nail ; so that, at a 
!j first glance, it seems as though there were but three toes, the middle one having two nails. They 
often hop on their hind-feet, at which time they make use of their long and strong tail to support 
themselves. They have accordingly the form and habits of the Kangaroos, from which they only diflfer in 
possessing the superior canine. Their regimen is frugivorous, and the stomach large, divided into two 
sacs, and possessing several inflations ; but their coecum is moderate and rounded. 
Only one species is known, the size of a small Rabbit, and of a mouse-grey colour, which is termed the Kanga- 
roo-rat {Macropus minor, Shaw.) [Five or six others have since been discovered, two of which, inhabiting New 
Guinea, are remarkable for their arboreal habits, in reference to which their structure is slightly modified, the 
hmbs being less unequal, and the great nails of their hind-feet curved : they do not, however, essentially differ 
from the others. One species is common in the interior of Van Diemen’s Land]. 
The fourth subdivision differs only from the third in having no canines whatever. 
The Kangaroos, {Macropus, Shaw ; Halmaturus, Illig.), — 
In which all the characters occur that we have assigned to the preceding genus, except that the upper 
