D I D E 
rican opoffum. It is very deftru£tive to poultry, the more 
fo as it fucks their blood without eating their flelh ; feeds 
alfo on roots and wild fruits; is very active in climbing 
trees; will hang fufpended by its tail, and, by Twinging 
its body, fling itfelf among the boughs of a neighbour¬ 
ing tree : it continues frequently hanging by the tail, 
with its head downwards : it hunts eagerly after birds 
and their nefts ; walks very flow ; when overtaken it will 
feign itlelf dead, but is not eafily killed, being as tena¬ 
cious of life as a cat. They have from four to fix young 
at a time. The Hefti of the old ones is faid to be deli¬ 
cate, and very much like that of a fucking pig. Their 
hair is dyed by the Indian women, and woven into bands 
and girdles ; but the fkins are very fetid. 
2. Didelphus marfupialis, or Amboyna opoffum ; hav¬ 
ing eight teats within the falfe belly or pouch. It is of 
the fize of a large cat. Noftrils perpendicular, lunar; 
whifkers long, in five rows ; eight briftles at each order 
of the mouth, and five under the throat ; ears oval, lax, 
black tipped with white. The legs are black and fmooth, 
covered with fliort hair ; tail length of the body. 
3. Didelphis philander, or Bralil opoffum. Tail bufliy 
at the bale; ears pendulous ; teats four. Inhabits South 
America; length nine inches, tail fourteen. Whifkers 
fix rows ; margin of the orbits dufky ; feet whitifh ; 
naked part of the tail whitifh, with brown fpots. 
4. Didelphis Molucca, the Molucca opoffum. This 
fpecies has long, oval, and naked, ears; mouth very 
wide; over each eye an oblong white fpot; the lips of 
its upper jaw, throat, bread, and belly, are of a white 
afh-colour ; the reft of its hair is of a cinereous brown, 
tipt with tawny, and darkeft on the back; tail as long as 
the body ; near the bale it is covered with hair, the reft 
of it is naked. The female is furnilhed with a falfe 
belly, in which the young fhelter. Marcgrave found fix 
young in the pouch of one female ; fire had ten cutting 
teeth above, and eight below. The length of the ani¬ 
mal is ten inches ; its tail exceeds the length of both 
head and body ; and its whole figure is of a much more 
flender make than that of the former. This fpecies is 
found abundantly in Aroe and Solor. It is called in the 
Indies, pelandor Aroe, or the Aroe rabbit. They are 
reckoned delicate eating, and are common at the tables 
of the great, who rear the young in the fame places in 
which they keep their rabbits. It inhabits alfo Surinam, 
and the hot parts of America. 
5. Didelphis cayopollin, or Mexican opoffum. This 
has large, angular, naked, and tranfparent, ears; nofe 
thicker than that of the former kind ; whifkers very 
large; a (light border of black furrounds the eyes ; its 
face is of a dirty-.white, with a dark line running down 
the middle ; the hair on the head and upper part of the 
body is afh-coloured at the roots, but of a deep tawny 
brown at the tips ; legs dufky ; claws white ; belly dull 
cinereous ; tail long and thick, varied with brown and 
yellow ; hairy about an inch below its origin, the reft 
naked : the length of the animal and of its tail are'the 
fame, each about nine inches; the tail is prehenfile, and 
ferves inftead of a finger. This fpecies inhabits the moun¬ 
tains of New Spain, and lives on trees, where it brings 
forth its young. 
6. Didelphis murina, the murine opoffum ; this has 
long, broad, ears, rounded at the extremity, thin, and 
naked; its eyes are encompaffed with black; the face, 
head, and upper part of the body, are of a tawny colour, 
the belly of a yellowifh white ; feet covered with fhort 
hair ; tail flender, covered with minute fcales to the very 
rump ; length of the animal from nofe to tail is about 
fix inches and a half, and the tail the fame. The female 
feetns to want the falfe belly ; but on the lower parts 
the lkin forms on each fide a fold, between which the 
teats are lodged. This fpecies varies in colour ; fome in 
Guiana are brown above, and white beneath. It inha¬ 
bits the hot parts of South America, and agrees with 
the others in its food and manners, and in the prehenfile 
Yol. V. No. 316. 
L I> Ii I s. 605 
power of its tail ; the female brings from ten to fourteen 
young at a time, at lead file has fo many teats. 
7. Didelphis dororfigera, or Merian opoffum. This 
derives its name from Sibil la Merian, the celebrated 
German naturalift, who firft difcovered and drew the fi¬ 
gure of this fpecies, at Surinam. It has long, fiiarp- 
pointed, naked, ears ; headand body of a yellowifh brown ; 
belly white, tinged with yellow. The length of the ani¬ 
mal, from nofe to tail, is ten inches. It inhabits Surinam, 
and burrows under ground. The female brings five or 
fix young at a time ; which, when alarmed with fudden 
danger, mount on their mother’s back, as the pouch is 
wanting ; and in that manner (lie carries them to a hole 
in the ground, or to the hollow of an old tree. They 
keep their hold by winding the tip of their tails round 
the tail of the parent animal, an advantage derived from 
its prehenfile faculty. The tail is longer than the body, 
very (lender, of a light cinereous colour, annulated with 
rings or belts of a dufky brown colour. 
8. Didelphis cancrivora, or Cayenne opoffum ; this 
has a long, (lender, face ; ears ereft and pointed, but 
fliort ; coat woolly, but mixed with very coarfe hairs, 
three inches long, of a dirty white from the roots to the 
middle, and thence to the ends of a deep brown ; its tides 
and belly are of a pale yellow ; legs dufky brown ; it 
has-a thumb on each foot diftinct from the toes; on the 
toes of the fore feet, and thumb of the hind, are nails; 
but on the toes of the hind feet, are crooked claws; its 
tail is very long, naked, and fcaly. A young one mea- 
fured above fixteen inches,'and its tail about fifteen. It 
inhabits Cayenne ; is very active in climbing trees for 
birds and infedts ; in marfliy places it feeds on crabs, 
which, when it cannot draw out of their holes with its 
feet, it hooks them by means of its prehenfile tail. If 
the crab pinches its tail, a cafe not uncommon, it fets up 
a loud cry, which may be heard a great, way off. Its 
common voice is a grunt, like a young pig : it is well 
furniflied with teeth, and will defend itfelf boldly againft 
dogs. The female brings four or five young at a time, 
and lodges them in a hollow tree. The natives eat thefe 
animals, and fay their flefh refembles that of a hare. 
They are eafily tamed, and will thenrefufe no kind of food. 
9. Didelphis caudivolva, or New Holland opoffum. 
This was found near Endeavour river, on the eaftern 
coaft of New Holland ; it lodges in the grafs, but is not 
common : the length of its body is about thirteen inches, 
the tail the fame ; the upper part of the head, back, and 
fides, are covered with long, foft, gloffy, hairs, of a dark 
afh-colour at the bottom, and of a rulty brown towards 
the ends ; the belly is dirty white ; tail taper, covered 
with fhort brown hair, except about four inches at the 
end, which is white, and naked underneath ; toes like 
thofe of the former fpecies. 
10. Didelphis brachyura, the fhort-tailed opoffum. It 
has naked ears ; back dull red ; belly paler ; the tail is 
fcarcely half the length of the body, thick at the bafe, 
and tapering to the end ; it has no falfe belly, but the 
young, as loon as they are brought forth, adhere clofeiy 
to the teats of their mother. Seba fays, (he produces tea 
or twelve at a time. It inhabits South America, and. 
lives in the woods. 
11. Didelphis orientalis, or phalanger opoffum. This- 
fpecies has a thick nofe, and fhort ears, covered with 
hair : it has eight cutting teeth in the upper jaw, and two . 
in the lower; the hair on the upper part of the body is 
reddifh, mixed with light afh-colour and yellow ; the 
hind part of the head, and middle of the back, are marked 
with a black line; the throat, belly, legs, and part of 
the tail, are of a yellowifh white; the reft of the tail is 
brown and yellow ; the body of the female is marked 
with white ; the firft and fecond toes of the hind feet are 
clofeiy united; claws large ; the origin of the tail’is co¬ 
vered with hair for near two inches and a half, the reft 
of it is naked : length of the animal, from nofe to tail, 
is near nine inches. Dr. Pallas fays, that this fpecies in- 
9 T habits 
