II.--THE WOMBAT FAMILY.--THE PHASCOLOMYIDÆ. THE WOMBAT.[98] [Illustration: SKELETON OF THE WOMBAT.] On looking at a picture of a Wombat, the outside distinctions between it and all the Kangaroo family may be seen at a glance, and an examination of its anatomy affords still greater evidence of differences which, to a certain extent, relate to the fact that the animal now under consideration is a burrower and gnawer. About two to three feet in length, the Wombat has only a small stump of a tail, a low body, small feet, and strong limbs, ending in broad extremities, well provided with claws. It has moderately long and coarse fur of a grey-brown colour, and there is some white about the short ears, and the feet are black. It is usually a plump animal, with a bare black muzzle, and feet naked beneath, and covered with little tubercles of flesh. The claws are large, and those of the fore feet (five in number) are solid and but little curved, whilst the four on the hind feet are curved and concave beneath. It has long moustache hairs, and plenty of them. Sir Everard Home had one, and he found that its principal desire was to get into the ground, and to do this it worked with great skill and rapidity, covering itself with earth with surprising quickness. It was very quiet during the day, but was in constant motion during the night; was very sensible of cold; ate all vegetables, and was particularly fond of new hay, which it ate stalk by stalk, taking it into its mouth like a Bear, in small bits at a time. It was not wanting in intelligence, and appeared attached to those to whom it was accustomed, and who were kind to it. When it saw them, it would put up its fore-paws on their knees, and when taken up would sleep on the lap. It allowed children to pull and carry it about, and when it bit them it did not appear to do so in anger or with violence. When wild, the Wombat hides up during the day, and quits its retreat at night, to dig and get grass and roots. It is by no means an active animal, and shuffles along like a Bear. The Wombat has a slit-like, imperfect marsupium, and the special peculiarities of its order, such as marsupial bones, the inflected lower jaw, and double uterus. On the hind foot the innermost or first toe is very small, nailless, and placed at right angles to the foot, and the second, third, and fourth toes are joined by skin, and have larger claws than the small fifth toe. The stomach is simple, and has a peculiar glandular apparatus, and the cæcum is short, and has an appendage as in man and some monkeys. The teeth are remarkable for their number in relation to those of the Kangaroos, and for having no rootlets. The incisor teeth greatly resemble those of a Rodent, like the Rat. They are two in number in each jaw, and are widely separated from the other teeth. The molars are long, curved, and, like the incisors, have no true fangs, but persistent pulps. They are divided into two nearly equal parts by a