The very peculiar1 structure from which the Marsupial2 animals derive3 their name has been regarded by almost every naturalist4 who has written on the subject as so essential a deviation5 from the common type, that, setting aside all considerations of form or habits, and regardless even of those technical characters on which so much reliance is usually placed, they have for the most part agreed in uniting under the same family designation every animal in which it occurred. This peculiarity6 consists in a folding or doubling of the skin and its appendages7 beneath the lower part of the belly8 in the females, in such a manner as to form an open pouch9 or[156] bag, in which the young are contained from a very early period, in which the process of suckling takes place, and in which, even for some time after they have acquired sufficient size and strength to leave it, the little ones continue to take refuge.
But the presence of this one anomalous10 characteristic is accompanied by so many striking discrepancies11 in other parts, that, limited as this tribe is in number, most of the principal forms of Mammalia find analogous12 representations among its groups. Thus the Opossums exhibit characters in some measure intermediate between the Quadrumana and the Carnivora, to which latter the Dasyuri, another Marsupial group, closely resembling the Civets in form and habits, approach very nearly; while the herbivorous races of the tribe might occupy a station between the Rodent13 and Ruminant Orders, with each of which they exhibit various degrees of relationship. This want of uniformity in the essential parts of their organization necessarily gives rise to much difficulty in determining their position in the system. The mode of classification now most generally followed is perhaps, under all the circumstances, the best that could at the present moment be adopted; although it must be owned that the purely14 herbivorous species arrange themselves with a very ill grace under a subdivision of the order Carnivora. Placed, however, as they are at the end of that order, and immediately before the Rodentia, the regular gradations from the type of the former to that of the latter, which occur in their different groups, become most distinctly manifest.
With the exception of the Opossums, which are natives of America, the tribe is peculiar to New Holland and its[157] appendages, and to some of the islands which form the great chain of connexion between that insular16 continent and South-eastern Asia. The former is, however, their head quarters, and the species which are found beyond its limits are few in number compared with those which people its territory, and, what is more remarkable17, people it to the exclusion18 of nearly all the other Mammalia; the dog alone, the universal concomitant of man, and one or two species of rats, disputing with them their title to its exclusive possession; for those paradoxical creatures, the Ornithorhynchus and Echidna, if really mammiferous, approximate closely in structure to the Marsupial tribe.
The largest of these animals are the Kanguroos, whose generic19 characters we shall now proceed to describe. Their teeth are only of two kinds, the canines20 being altogether wanting. The incisors are six in the upper jaw21, and two only in the lower; the former short, and arranged in a curved line, and the latter long, pointed22, closely applied23 to each other, and directed forwards. The molars are separated from the incisors by a considerable vacant space, and are five in number on each side of each jaw. The most remarkable peculiarity in the external form of these animals consists in the extreme disproportion of their limbs, the anterior24 legs being short and weak, while the posterior are extremely long and muscular. The tail too is excessively thick at its base, of considerable length, and gradually tapering25; and this singular conformation enables it to act in some measure as a supplemental leg, when the animal assumes an erect26 or nearly erect posture27, in which position he is supported as it were on a tripod by the joint28 action of[158] these three powerful organs. By means of this combination they will, when flying from danger, take a succession of leaps of from twenty to thirty feet in length and six or eight in height; but even in their more quiet and gradual mode of progression they also make use of their tail in conjunction with their four extremities29. The fore15 feet are furnished with five toes, each terminating in a moderately strong and arcuated claw. The hinder extremities, on the contrary, have only four toes, the two interior of which are united together so as to form the appearance of a single one furnished with two short and feeble claws; the third is long, of great strength, and terminated by a large and powerful claw having the form of a lengthened31 hoof32; and the fourth, the most external of the series, is similar in character to the third, but of much smaller dimensions. The head and anterior part are small and delicate, and appear quite disproportioned to the robust33 posterior half of the body; and this disproportion is equally striking, whether the animal assumes an erect position or crouches34 forwards upon all fours. In either case the whole extent of the soles of the posterior feet, which are of great length, is applied to the surface of the ground. Although differing from all the Rodent animals in the number of the cutting teeth of the upper jaw, the Kanguroo has the deep fissure35 in the upper lip, with which nearly all that order are furnished, and of which the hare offers a familiar and proverbial instance.
These singular animals were among the first fruits which accrued36 to natural history from the discovery of New South Wales, a country which has since proved so fertile in new and remarkable forms both of the animal[159] and vegetable creations. Their natural habits in a wild state are still, however, very imperfectly known. They appear to live in small herds38, perhaps single families, which are said to submit to the guidance of the older males, and to inhabit in preference the neighbourhood of woods and thickets39. They are, as might be inferred from the small size of their mouths and the peculiar character of their teeth, purely herbivorous, feeding chiefly upon grass and roots. Their flesh is eaten by the colonists40, by whom it is said to be nutritious41 and savoury, an assertion which is confirmed by those who have partaken of it in England. In order to procure42 this they are frequently hunted in their native country; but the dogs who are employed in this service sometimes meet with dangerous wounds, not only from the blows of their powerful tail, which is their usual weapon of defence, but also from the claws of their hind30 feet, with which they have been known to lacerate the bodies of their assailants in a shocking manner. But, unless when thus driven to make use of such powers of self-defence as they possess, they are perfectly37 harmless and even timid; and, when domesticated43, are not in the least mischievous44. In several collections in this country, and particularly in the Royal Park at Windsor, from which the specimens45 in the Menagerie were obtained, they have become almost naturalized, and appear to be but little affected46 by the change of climate. When confined in a small enclosure, they uniformly make their path round its circuit, seldom crossing it or passing in any other direction except for the purpose of procuring47 their food. Their whole appearance, and especially their mode of progression, is singularly curious and even to a certain extent ludicrous.
[160]
Modern naturalists48 have attempted to distinguish several species among the Kanguroos; but as the characters on which these are founded consist merely in difference of size and slight modifications49 of colour, a much more complete acquaintance with them than we yet possess is requisite50 before they can safely be adopted. Our specimens are of a brownish gray above, somewhat lighter51 beneath, with the extremity52 of the muzzle53, the back of the ear, the feet, and the upper surface of the tail, nearly black, and the front of the throat grayish white. Since they have been confined in the Menagerie, the female has once produced young; a circumstance by no means unfrequent even in this country among those which are less restricted of their liberty and are suffered to roam at large in a meadow or a park. They are fed, like the domesticated Ruminants, upon green herbage and hay; and are extremely tame and good tempered.
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1
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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marsupial
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| adj.有袋的，袋状的 | |
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3
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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4
naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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5
deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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6
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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7
appendages
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| n.附属物( appendage的名词复数 )；依附的人；附属器官；附属肢体（如臂、腿、尾等） | |
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belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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9
pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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10
anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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11
discrepancies
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| n.差异，不符合（之处），不一致（之处）( discrepancy的名词复数 ) | |
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12
analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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13
rodent
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| n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的 | |
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14
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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15
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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insular
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| adj.岛屿的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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17
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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18
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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generic
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| adj.一般的，普通的，共有的 | |
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canines
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| n.犬齿( canine的名词复数 )；犬牙；犬科动物 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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22
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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23
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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anterior
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| adj.较早的；在前的 | |
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tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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26
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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29
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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30
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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31
lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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33
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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34
crouches
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| n.蹲着的姿势( crouch的名词复数 )v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的第三人称单数 ) | |
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35
fissure
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| n.裂缝；裂伤 | |
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36
accrued
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| adj.权责已发生的v.增加( accrue的过去式和过去分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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38
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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39
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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40
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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41
nutritious
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| adj.有营养的，营养价值高的 | |
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42
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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43
domesticated
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| adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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45
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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46
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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47
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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48
naturalists
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| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
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49
modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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50
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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51
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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52
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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53
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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