That the young opossums stick to the teats of the mother till they have acquired strength, and a sufficient growth to move with ease, is a fact not to be doubted; nor is it peculiar to this species only, since we have seen it in that of the _marmose_. The female marmose has not, like the opossum, a bag under the belly; it is not, therefore, in consequence of the assistance which the young receive from the pouch that they stick so long to the teats, and increase in that immoveable situation. I make this observation to prevent the pouch being considered as a second womb, or at least an asylum necessary to the young before they are unfolded. Some authors pretend that they stick to the teats for several weeks, others say that they remain in the pouch only the first month after they came out of the womb. The pouch may be opened, the young counted, and even felt, without disturbing them, for they do not leave the teats, which they hold with their mouths, before they are strong enough to walk; then they fall into the bag, and afterwards go out to seek for their subsistence; they often go in again to sleep, to suck, and to hide themselves when terrified; in cases of danger the mother flies, and carries the whole of her young with her. Her belly does not seem to have any increased bigness when she is breeding, for in the time of the true gestation it is scarcely perceivable that she is with young. From inspecting the form of the feet it is easy to perceive that he walks and runs aukwardly; it is said a man can overtake him without hastening his steps. He climbs up trees with great facility, hides himself in the leaves to catch birds, or hangs by the tail, the extremity of which is so muscular and flexible that he can clasp with it any thing he seizes upon. He sometimes remains a long while in this situation, his body suspended, with his head hanging downward, waiting for his prey. At other times he jumps from one tree to another, as the monkeys, with like muscular flexible tails, which he resembles also in the conformation of his feet. Though carnivorous, and even greedy of blood, which he sucks with avidity, he feeds also upon reptiles, insects, sugar-canes, potatoes, roots, and even leaves and bark of trees. He may easily be rendered a domestic animal, for he is neither wild nor ferocious; but he creates disgust by his smell, which is more offensive than that of the fox; his figure is also forbidding, for his ears are like those of an ounce, his tail resembles that of a serpent, his mouth is cleft to the very eyes, his body appears always dirty, because his hair is neither smooth nor curled, and seems as if covered with dirt. His bad smell resides in the skin, for his flesh is eatable. The savages hunt this animal by preference, and feed on his flesh heartily. SUPPLEMENT.