The opossum is an animal of America, which is easily distinguished from all others by two singular characters; first, the female has under the belly a large cavity where she receives and suckles her young; secondly, both male and female have no claws on the great toes of the hind feet, which is separated from the others, as the thumb on the human hand, whilst all the other toes are armed with crooked claws, like the feet of other quadrupeds. The first of these characters has been observed by most travellers and naturalists, but the second had escaped their observation. Edward Tyson, an English physician, seems to be the first who made this remark; and he only has given a good description of the female in a treatise printed in London in 1698, under the title of The Anatomy of an Opossum. Some years after, W. Cooper, a celebrated English anatomist, communicated to Tyson the observations which he had made Upon the male. Other authors, and especially the nomenclators, who have multiplied beings without necessity, have here fallen into numerous errors respecting this animal. Our opossum, described by Tyson, is the same animal as the oriental philandre of Seba, since of all the animals which Seba has described, and to which he gave the name of philandre, opossum, or carigueya, this is the only one who has a bag under the belly, and thumbs without claws behind. This animal is a native of the warm climates of the new world; for the two we have in the king's cabinet came from America. That which Tyson had, was sent him from Virginia. M. de Chanvallon, correspondent of the Academy of Sciences in Martinico, who has given us a young opossum, acknowledged the two others to be true opossums of America. All the travellers agree, that this animal is found in Brasil, New Spain, Virginia, and the Antilles; and none mention having seen it in the East Indies; thus Seba was mistaken in calling it the oriental philandre. He says, his philandre was sent him from Amboyna, under the name of coes-coes, with other curiosities, but he confesses, at the same time, that it had been transported from some other remote countries to Amboyna. This should be sufficient to shew, that the denomination of oriental philandre was improper; for it is possible that travellers have transported this animal from America to the East Indies, but nothing proves that he is a native of Amboyna; and even the passage of Seba, which we have quoted, seems to indicate the contrary. The cause of this error and even of the name _coes-coes_, is found in Piso, who says, that in the East Indies, and only in the island of Amboyna, is found an animal very much like the opossum of Brasil to whom the natives give the name of _cous-cous_. Piso quotes no authority for this assertion. It would be strange, if it was true, as Piso affirms, that this animal is only found in Amboyna, while Seba, on the contrary, says, that the opossum sent him from Amboyna,