The opossum is an animal of America, which is easily distinguished
from all others by two singular characters; first, the female has
under the belly a large cavity where she receives and suckles her
young; secondly, both male and female have no claws on the great
toes of the hind feet, which is separated from the others, as the
thumb on the human hand, whilst all the other toes are armed with
crooked claws, like the feet of other quadrupeds. The first of these
characters has been observed by most travellers and naturalists, but
the second had escaped their observation. Edward Tyson, an English
physician, seems to be the first who made this remark; and he only
has given a good description of the female in a treatise printed in
London in 1698, under the title of The Anatomy of an Opossum. Some
years after, W. Cooper, a celebrated English anatomist, communicated to
Tyson the observations which he had made Upon the male. Other authors,
and especially the nomenclators, who have multiplied beings without
necessity, have here fallen into numerous errors respecting this animal.
Our opossum, described by Tyson, is the same animal as the oriental
philandre of Seba, since of all the animals which Seba has described,
and to which he gave the name of philandre, opossum, or carigueya,
this is the only one who has a bag under the belly, and thumbs without
claws behind. This animal is a native of the warm climates of the new
world; for the two we have in the king's cabinet came from America.
That which Tyson had, was sent him from Virginia. M. de Chanvallon,
correspondent of the Academy of Sciences in Martinico, who has given
us a young opossum, acknowledged the two others to be true opossums
of America. All the travellers agree, that this animal is found in
Brasil, New Spain, Virginia, and the Antilles; and none mention having
seen it in the East Indies; thus Seba was mistaken in calling it the
oriental philandre. He says, his philandre was sent him from Amboyna,
under the name of coes-coes, with other curiosities, but he confesses,
at the same time, that it had been transported from some other remote
countries to Amboyna. This should be sufficient to shew, that the
denomination of oriental philandre was improper; for it is possible
that travellers have transported this animal from America to the East
Indies, but nothing proves that he is a native of Amboyna; and even
the passage of Seba, which we have quoted, seems to indicate the
contrary. The cause of this error and even of the name _coes-coes_,
is found in Piso, who says, that in the East Indies, and only in the
island of Amboyna, is found an animal very much like the opossum of
Brasil to whom the natives give the name of _cous-cous_. Piso quotes
no authority for this assertion. It would be strange, if it was true,
as Piso affirms, that this animal is only found in Amboyna, while
Seba, on the contrary, says, that the opossum sent him from Amboyna,
was not a native of that island, but had been brought there from more
distant countries; though he was ignorant of the native country of his
philandre, he nevertheless gave him the epithet of oriental, though
he is certainly the same animal as that of the West Indies; the proof
of it will clearly appear by comparing the figure he has given with
Nature. But another error of this author is, that while he gives to the
opossum of America the name of great oriental philandre he presents
us another animal, which he thinks a different one, under the name of
the philandre of America; and which according to his own description,
differs only from the former by being smaller, and having the spots
above the eyes of a deeper brown colour; which differences are merely
accidental, and too inconsiderable to constitute two different species,
for he does not mention another difference more essential, if it
existed, that Seba's philandre of America has sharp claws on the hind
toes of the hind feet, while his oriental philandre has no claws upon
his two thumbs. It is certain, that our opossum, which is the true one
of America, has no claws to his toes behind; if an animal with sharp
claws did exist, such as is represented by Seba, it could not be, as he
asserts, the opossum of America. But this is not all, Seba mentions a
third animal, under the name of oriental philandre, of whom, however,
he speaks only after Valentin, an author who, as we have observed
already, deserves little credit: and this third animal is yet the same
as the two first. We are, therefore, persuaded that the three animals
of Seba are individuals of the same species, and which species is the
same as our opossum; and that the difference between them might be
occasioned by their age, as it entirely consists in their size and
slight variations in their colour, particularly in the spots above
their eyes.
Seba says, "that according to Valentin, this last philandre is the
largest species seen in the East Indies, and particularly among the
Malays, where he is called _pelandor aroé_, which signifies a rabbit
of _Aroé_, though Aroé is not the only place where these animals are
found; that they are common in the island of Solor; that they are
kept promiscuously with rabbits, to whom they do no harm; and that
the inhabitants eat their flesh, which they reckon excellent." These
facts are very doubtful, not to say absolutely false, for according to
Seba, this is not the largest species of the oriental philandre, that
it bears no resemblance to the rabbit, therefore is very improperly
termed the rabbit of Aroé; and that no person who has travelled in the
East Indies has mentioned this remarkable animal; neither is he found
in the island of Solor, nor in any other part of the ancient continent.
Seba himself seems to have perceived not only the incapacity, but also
the inaccuracy of the author whom he quotes: F. Valentin has written a
Natural History of the East Indies in five volumes folio, and for the
credit due to his testimony, both Artedi and Seba refer to a passage
wherein he affirms, "that the pouch of the philandre is the womb in
which the young are conceived; that having himself dissected a female,
he found no other; and if that pouch is not the real womb, the teats
are to the young, what the pedicles are to fruits, that they stick to
them till they are sufficiently grown, and then they are separated
like the fruit, when it is come to ripeness." What seems to be the
truth is, that Valentin, who affirms that those animals are common in
the East Indies, especially at Solor, had never seen any there; that
all he says, even his most manifest errors, are copied from Piso and
Marcgrave, who are themselves copyists of Ximenes, and are mistaken in
everything they have advanced of their own authority; for Marcgrave and
Piso say expressly and observatively, as well as Valentin, that the
pouch is the true womb where the young of the opossums are conceived.
Marcgrave says, he dissected one, and found no other womb: Piso, who
says he dissected many, affirms he never could discover any womb in the
internal parts, and also maintains the opinion, equally ill-grounded,
that this animal is found at Amboyna. One may judge of what credit
ought to be given to Marcgrave, Piso, and Valentin's assertions, the
first of whom had not examined with accuracy; the second had added to
the errors of the first, and the last copied from both.
I should willingly ask pardon of my reader for the length of this
critical disquisition, but when obliged to correct errors, we cannot be
too exact or too attentive, even to the smallest circumstances.
M. Brisson, in his work upon the quadrupeds, has adopted whatever
he found in that of Seba, and adopts both his denominations and
descriptions; he goes even farther than his author, in making three
distinct species of the philandres, described by Seba; for, if he had
adhered to Seba, he would have observed that the latter did not give
them as really different from each other. Seba had no doubt that an
animal of the warm climates of America, could be found also in the
torrid regions of Asia; but he distinguished them according as they
came to him from one or the other continent. It seems clear that he
does not use the word species in its most strict sense, nor did Seba
ever pretend to make a methodical division of animals into classes,
genera, and species; he has only given the figures of the different
animals in his cabinet, distinguishing by names, according as he saw
some difference in their size, colour, or the countries from which
he received them. It appears, therefore, that M. Brisson was not
authorised by Seba, in making three different species of philandres,
especially as he has not employed the distinctive characters, and makes
no mention of the want of the claws, in the hind toes of the hind feet;
he only says, in general, that the toes of the philandres have claws,
without making any exception; yet the one which he saw in the King's
cabinet, and which is our opossum, had no claws to the hind toes of the
hind legs, and which seems to be the only one he has seen. The work of
M. Brisson is very useful, but in his catalogue the species are more
numerous than in that of Nature.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 133. _Elephant._]
[Illustration: FIG. 134. _Rhinoceros._]
We have now only to examine the nomenclature of Linnæus, which in this
article is much less erroneous than in many others, for he suppresses
one of the three species of Seba; but he should have reduced them to
one. Besides, he employs the distinctive character of the toes behind
without claws, which none but Tyson had observed. The description which
Linnæus gives of the opossum as the _marsupialis_, seems to be a good
one, and agreeable to Nature, but he is in an error when under the name
of opossum he designs an animal different from his _marsupialis_, upon
the authority of Seba, acknowledging, however, that this opossum had no
claws to the toes behind, whilst they are very visible in the figures
of Seba. Another error is, considering the _maritacaca_ of Piso, as
the same animal as the _carigueya_, whilst these two animals, though
mentioned in the same chapter, are mentioned by Piso as two different
animals, and he describes them one after the other. But his greatest
error is in making two different species of the _marsupialis_ and the
opossum; they have both, according to Linnæus, the pouch, the hind toes
of their hind feet have no claws, are both natives of America, and only
differ in this respect, by the first having eight paps, and the second
only two, and the spot above the eyes more pale. These characteristics
cannot be sufficient to distinguish them as distinct species; for
the first can scarcely be called a difference; nor can any thing be
established as fixed or certain, in regard to the order and the number
of the paps, since they vary in the same species of most animals.
From this examination, which we have made with strict impartiality, it
appears, that the _philandre_, _opossum_, _seu carigueya Brasiliensis_,
and the _philander orientalis maximus_ of Seba; those of M. Brisson,
and the _marsupialis_ and _opossum_ of Linnæus are all of them the same
animal, which is our opossum whose natural climate is South America;
and who was never seen in the East Indies, but when transported
thither. Upon this subject, some uncertainty still remains in regard to
the _taiibi_, which Marcgrave does not mention as an animal different
from the _carigueya_, but which Johnston, Seba, Klein, Linnæus, and
Brisson, have presented as distinct from the preceding. In Marcgrave
the two names of _carigueya_ and _taiibi_ are found in the same
article, where it is said, that this animal is called _carigueya_ in
Brasil, and _taiibi_ in Paraguay. There is afterwards a description
of the _carigueya_ taken from Ximenes; and then another is given of
the animal called _taiibi_, by the Brasilians; _cachorro domato_, by
the Portuguese, and _hooschratte_, or the rat of the wood, by the
Dutch. Marcgrave does not say this is an animal different from the
_carigueya_, but on the contrary, considers it as the male of that
species; and it appears clearly, that the male and female opossum were
called _taiibi_ in Paraguay, and that in Brasil they gave the name of
_taiibi_ to the male, and that of _carigueya_ to the female. Besides,
the difference between those two animals, such as it is indicated by
their descriptions, is too inconsiderable to conclude they are not the
same species. The most essential is, the colour of the hair, which in
the _carigueya_ is yellow and brown, and grey in the _taiibi_, the
hairs of which are white at their bottom, and brown or black at the
extremities. It is therefore more than probable, that the _taiibi_ is
the male opossum. Mr. Ray seems to be of that opinion, when speaking
of the _carigueya_, and the _taiibi_. Yet, notwithstanding Marcgrave's
authority, and the rational doubt of Ray, Seba gives the figure of an
animal, under the name of the _taiibi_; and says, at the same time,
that this _taiibi_ is the same animal as the _tlaquatzin_ of Hernandes;
this is adding error upon error; for even according to Seba, his
_taiibi_, which is a female, has no bag under the belly; and Hernandes
gives to his _tlaquatzin_ this bag as a particular characteristic;
consequently the _taiibi_ of Seba cannot be the _tlaquatzin_ of
Hernandes, as it has no pouch, nor the _taiibi_ of Marcgrave, since it
is a female; it is certainly, therefore, another animal badly designed,
and badly described, to whom Seba thought proper to give the name of
_taiibi_, and which he confounds with the _tlaquatzin_ of Hernandes,
which as we have said before, is our opossum. Brisson and Linnæus have,
in regard to the _taiibi_, literally followed Seba; they have copied
even his error in regard to the _tlaquatzin_ of Hernandes, and both,
have made an equivocal species of this animal, the first under the name
of _philandre_ of Brasil, and the second under that of _philander_.
The true _taiibi_ of Marcgrave and Ray, is not therefore the _taiibi_
of Seba, the _philander_ of Linnæus, nor the Brasilian _philander_ of
Brisson; nor are the two latter the _tlaquatzin_ of Hernandes. The
_taiibi_ of Seba (supposing his existence) is a different animal from
all those treated of by the above authors, and ought to have had a
particular denomination, and not been confounded with the _taiibi_ of
Marcgrave, which has nothing in common with him; besides, as the male
opossum has no pouch, it is not surprising that they have been taken
for different animals, as that the female is called carigueya, and the
male taiibi.
Edward Tyson dissected and described the female opossum with care; in
the individual which served him for subject, the head was six inches,
the body thirteen, and the tail twelve in length: the fore legs were
six inches, and the hind legs four inches and a half in height:
the body was fifteen or sixteen inches in circumference; the tail
three inches round in the beginning, and only one inch towards the
extremities; the head three inches betwixt the two ears, decreasing
gradually to the nose; and was more like that of a pig than a fox; the
sockets of the eyes are much inclined in the direction from the ears
to the nose; the ears are rounded, and about an inch and a half long;
the mouth was two inches and a half wide from one of the corners of
the lip to the extremity of the snout; the tongue narrow, three inches
long, and rough; his fore feet had five toes armed with crooked claws,
but in the hind feet he had only four toes with claws, and the fifth
toe, or thumb, was separated from the others, was placed lower, and had
no claws. All his claws were without hair, and covered with a skin of
a reddish colour, and very near an inch in length; his hind and fore
paws were large, and he had fleshy callosities under all the toes. The
tail was covered with hair for two or three inches from the beginning,
and the rest of it with a smooth scaly skin to the end. These scales
were whitish, almost hexagonal, and placed regularly, so that they did
not encroach upon each other, but were divided by a skin browner than
the scales. The ears were without hair, thin and membranous like the
wings of a bat, and very open. The upper jaw longer than the under;
the nostrils large, the eyes small, black, and lively; the neck short,
the breast wide, and the whiskers like those of a cat: the hairs of
the forehead whiter and shorter than those of the body; his colour a
yellowish grey, intermixed with black on the back and sides, more brown
on the belly, and still deeper on the legs. Under the belly of the
female (_fig. 131._) is a skin two or three inches long, which forms a
kind of pouch by a double fold thinly covered with hair on the inside,
and which pouch contains the teats. The young enter into this pouch to
suck, and soon acquire the habit of hiding themselves in it, so that
they retire thither whenever they are frightened. This pouch opens and
shuts according to the will of the animal; which it effects by several
muscles and two bones, which are peculiar to the opossum; these two
bones are about two inches in length, placed by the os pubis, they
decrease gradually from the basis to the extremities, and support the
muscles which open the pouch; the antagonists of these muscles serve
to shut it so exactly, that in the living animal the opening cannot
be seen, without forcibly dilating it with the fingers. The inside
of this pouch is full of kernels, which contain a yellow substance,
the smell of which is so offensive, that it infects the whole body
of the animal; yet when this matter is dried, it not only loses its
disagreeable smell, but acquires a perfume which may be compared to
that of musk. This pouch is not, as Marcgrave and Piso have falsely
asserted, the place in which the young are conceived; the female
opossum has an internal womb, different indeed from that of other
animals, but in which the young are conceived, and remain till they are
brought forth. Tyson says, that in this animal there are two wombs,
two vaginas, and four ovariums. M. Daubenton does not agree with Tyson
in these particulars; but by his description, it is at least certain,
that in the organs of generation of the opossums, there are several
parts double which are single in other animals. The glans penis of the
male, and the glans clitoridis in the female, which are forked, and
seem double. The vagina, which is single at the entrance, is afterwards
divided into two channels; this conformation is very singular, and
differs from that of all other quadrupeds.
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.
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.