the southern climates of the two continents, without being the same species, come the nearest to each other. THE MARMOSE. The species of the Marmose, or Murine Opossum, (_fig. 132._) resembles that of the preceding; they are natives of the same climate and the same continent; they are very much alike in the form of the body, the conformation of the feet, in the tail, which is mostly covered with scales, except the upper part, which is hairy, and by the teeth, which are more numerous than in other quadrupeds. But the marmose is smaller, and his snout sharper; the female has no pouch under the belly, she has only two loose skins near the thighs, between which the young fix themselves to the teats. The parts of generation of the male and female marmose resemble, by their form and their position, those of the opossum. When the young are brought forth, and fix themselves to the teats, they are not so big as small beans. The brood is also more numerous; I have seen ten young ones, each sticking to a different teat, and the mother had four more teats, which made fourteen in all. It is particularly on the females of this species that the observations, recommended in the preceding article, should be made; as I am persuaded they bring forth a few days after conception, and that the young are only foetuses which are not come to the fourth part of their growth. The mother always miscarries, and the foetuses save their lives by sticking to the teats, and never leaving them till they have acquired the growth and strength which they would naturally have got in the womb, if they had remained until the proper period. The marmose has the same manners, and the same inclinations, as the opossum; both of them dig burrows to dwell under the ground, hang by the extremities of their tails to the branches of trees, and rush upon birds and small animals; they eat fruit, corn, and roots, but they are still more greedy of fish and craw-fish, which, it is affirmed, they catch with their tails. This fact, however, is doubtful, and does not agree with the natural stupidity attributed to those animals, who, according to the relation of most travellers, do not even know how to move, fly, or defend themselves, with any degree of art. THE CAYOPOLLIN.