DID 
DID 
DICTIONARY, a collection, or cata- 
logue, of all the words of a language, art, 
science, &c. with their explanations, ranged 
in alphabetical order. 
DIDELPHIS, the opossum, in natural 
liistory, a genus of Mammalia of the order 
Per*. Generic character : fore-teeth small 
and rounded ; upper, ten small and rounded ; 
intermediate, two, longer ; lower, eight, 
intermediate two, broader and very short ; 
tusks long ; grinders denticulated ; tongue 
fringed with papill® ; abdominal pouch, 
in most species, containing the teats. 
These animals first became known to Eu- 
ropeans on the discovery of America, and 
excited their particular attention by a de- 
viation in their structure from that of all 
other known quadrupeds. This singularity 
consisted in the female’s possession of a bag 
or pouch in the lower part of the abdomen, 
which is opened and closed at pleasure, and 
to which her young resort for shelter and 
security in a variety of dangers. Some fe- 
males possess, according to Gmelin, two or 
three of these pouches, and the male is 
stated also, in the same author, occasion- 
ally to have one. These animals live in the 
woods, burrowing in the earth, and, by 
means of a prehensile tail, are alert in 
climbing trees. Their general motion is 
slow, and their food consists of insects, 
worms and vegetables, young birds, and 
particularly poultry. They are by no means 
peculiar to the Western continent, but are 
to be found in various other parts of the 
world. According to both Shaw and Gmelin 
there are twenty-one species, of which the 
following are most deserving of attention : 
for the spotted opossum, see Mammalia, 
Plate IX. fig. 1. D. yirginiana, the Vir- 
ginian opossum. The size of this animal is 
little inferior to that of the domestic cat ; 
its tail is covered with a scaly skin, the di- 
visions of which give it the resemblance of 
a small snake, and the animal has the fa- 
culty of coiling it with great tenacity round 
any object, and of thus increasing its means 
of defence and attack, and its facility of 
movement among the branches of trees. 
The teats of the female are inclosed in that 
astonishing receptacle which distinguishes 
almost every species of this animal ; and 
immediately after their birth, the young are 
introduced by their parent to that cavity, 
or resort to it from an impulse of their own. 
After first emerging from it, on attaining a 
Certain degree of growth and vigour, they 
have repeated recourse to it on alarms of 
danger, and are securely kept, and even 
carried about in it by the dam till all ground 
of apprehension ceases. In some species 
this cavity does not exist, and nature has 
substituted for it a sort of furrow. The Vir- 
ginian opossum is gentle and inoffensive in 
its manners, but has a rank and disagree- 
able smell. The female produces four or 
five at a birth, and prepares a sort of nest 
for herself, of grass, near the root of a 'tree. 
She has the power of closing her pouch, and 
preserving it closed so completely as to ren- 
der it a matter of great difficidty to open 
it. D. marsnpialis, the Amboyna opos- 
sum, is found in the warmer climates of 
South America, as well as in some coun- 
tries of the East. It is bred with rabbits 
in India, and passes, indeed, under the 
name of the Aroe rabbit. It is not only 
considered as fit for food, but regarded as 
a considerable delicacy. Tins species is 
much larger than the last. D. lemurina, or 
the New Holland bear. The length of this 
animal’s body is about a foot and a half, 
and diat of its tail about a foot. It is, per- 
haps, the most elegant species of the genus. 
It has repeatedly been brought living to 
England. In its manners, or mode of sub- 
■sistence, it resembles the other species ; it 
is frequently perceived, however, to sit like 
a squirrel with its body erect, and holding 
its food in its hands. Its fur is extremely 
rich, soft, and thick. D. petaurus, or the 
great flying opossum of New Holland, is 
nearly two feet in length to the beginning 
of its tail, which is nearly two feet more. 
By an expansile membrane reaching on 
each side of its body, from the fore to the 
hind legs, it is enabled to leap to an extra; 
ordinary distance, and has thus gained the 
designation by which it is distinguished. Its 
fur is of the most exquisite fineness, and, 
for the, greater part, of a sable or deep-grey 
brown colour, extremely brilliant. See 
Mammalia, Plate IX. fig. 2. D. sciurea, or 
the squin-el opossum. This and the last spe- 
cies are considered by Shaw as the two most 
beautiful quadrupeds in New South Wales. 
Its general appearance extremely resem- 
bles that of a squirrel. Its fur is, if possi- 
ble, more soft and valuable than that of the 
flying opossum. Its abdominal pouch is ra- 
ther beyond the usual proportion. Tliis 
animal reposes by day, but during the night 
ranges in full activity. 
DIDELTA, in botany, a genus of the 
Syngenesia Polygamia Frustranea class and 
order. Natural order of Compound Flow- 
ers. Coryrabiferae, Jussieu. Essential cha- 
racter : calyx expanding ; outer-leafy ; re- 
