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.