The opossum belongs to the south parts of the new world, but he does not, like the armadillo, seem confined to the hottest climates, for he is found not only in Brasil, Guiana, and Mexico, but also in Florida, Virginia, and other temperate regions of this continent. They are very common in these countries, as they bring forth often, and most authors say four or five, others six or seven, at a time. Marcgrave affirms, that he has seen six young ones alive in the pouch of the female; they were about two inches in length, were very nimble, and went in and out of the pouch many times in a day. They are very small when just brought forth: some travellers say they are not bigger than flies when they go out of the womb into the pouch, and attach themselves to the teats. This fact is not so much exaggerated as might be imagined, for we have seen in an animal, whose species is somewhat like that of the opossum, young ones sticking to the teats not bigger than beans; and it is not improbable, that, in these animals, the womb is only the place of conception and first formation of the foetus, whose unfolding is completed in the pouch. No one has observed the time of their gestation, which we think is shorter than in any other quadruped; and as this early exclusion of the foetus is a singularity in nature, we wish those who have an opportunity of observing the opossums in their native country would contrive to discover how long the females go with young, and how long the young remain attached to the teats. This observation is curious in itself, and may become useful, in pointing out some means of preserving the lives of children born before their natural period.