396 
THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM. 
aftei being placed in the pouch, and after the period when the eyes and ears are opened, in 
order to ascertain whether any important change, chemical or otherwise, has been made in that 
liquid by the double action of air and light. 
The order which embraces the pouched animals, called in systematic language Marsupials, 
from the Latin, marsupium , a pouch, is well nigh peculiar to that far-away and almost wholly 
strange country, Australasia. With the notable exception of our Virginia Opossum and a few 
species of the same genus in South America, the Marsupials are confined to the latter country. 
Wallace records three genera and twenty-three species of the family BidelpJiyidce. 
The species are most numerous in Brazil. The North American Opossum ranges from the 
Hudson River to Florida. 
The skins of the Opossum are now of considerable commercial value. 
The prehensile tail of this animal is well illustrated in the two engravings. 
The Crab-eating Opossum is not so large an animal as the Virginian Opossum, being 
only thirty or thirty-one inches in total length, the head and body measuring sixteen inches, 
and the tail fifteen. It can 
also be distinguished from 
the preceding animal by the 
darker hue of its fur, the 
attenuated head, and the uni- 
formly colored ears, which 
are generally black, but are 
sometimes of a yellowish 
tint. 
The fur of the Crab- 
eating Opossum is long, and 
though rather woolly in tex- 
ture, is harsh to the touch. 
From the peculiar coloring 
of the long hairs that pro- 
trude through the thick, 
close, woolly fur that lies 
next to the skin, the general 
tinting of its coat appears 
rather uncertain, and varies 
according to the portion 
which happens to be ex- 
posed to view at the time. 
These hairs are nearly white 
towards their base, but dark- 
en into sooty-black towards 
their extremities. The limbs 
and feet are black, and the 
head is a brownish-white. 
There is generally an indis- 
tinct dark line drawn over 
the forehead. The tail is covered with scales, interspersed with short hairs, and its basal 
half is black, the remainder being of a grayish-white. For the first three inches of its length 
it is densely clothed with sooty-black fur of the same tint as that upon the back, and the 
remainder of its length is covered with scales and short hair. 
The Crab -eating Opossum is peculiarly fitted for a residence on trees, and is never seen to 
proper advantage except when traversing the boughs, or swinging among the branches by 
means of its peculiarly prehensile tail. While it is engaged in its arboreal wanderings, it 
CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM . — Philander cancrivorus. 
