186 
THE OPOSSUM. 
When pursued and overtaken, this aniro^i^ 
will feign itself dead till the danger is over > 
and we are told that if a female is taken 
this state, with her young in her pouch, 
torments can compel her to give them up. 
tenacious is the opossum of life, that it cann®* 
be killed without great difficulty. Hence 
saying in North Carolina, that “ if the cat 
nine lives, the opossum has nineteen.” 
Brickell relates that he has seen these an*' 
mals, after the scull had been shattered 
pieces, and they appeared to be absolutely 
lifeless, crawling about again in the course 
a few hours. 
The opossum takes the most tender care 
her young, which she carries every wher® 
about with her in the abdominal pouch, wher^ 
they are secure from the vicissitudes of tb^ 
weather. As her offspring increase in si2^' 
she lets them out from time to time, especially 
in rainy weather, in order to wash them, 
