on the boughs, and causes, to those who handle it for the first time, a sensation as of something odd and unexpected. The fore paws of the opossum are slight and fragile, somewhat like those of the kangaroo, as might be expected to be the case since both animals use them as hands, and convey their food to the mouth with them, but between the hind feet of the two animals there is no similarity. An opossum's hind foot reminds one in a certain degree of the foot of a cockatoo, both creatures being climbers, and their feet framed in such a manner as shall secure a firm hold upon the boughs of the trees in which they live. A curious supernumerary little claw upon the opossum's hind foot serves him as a pocket-comb, but neither the claw nor the use that he makes of it is mentioned in any account that I have read of him, nor have I seen it recorded that, like hares and cats, he follows the praiseworthy custom of frequently washing his face.
At the time of our becoming possessed of Possie she was so young as to be incapable of doing much mischief, and for the first fortnight she fixed upon no settled place of abode, but was always causing excitement by turning up in out-of-the-way unexpected places, where she lay fast asleep, and was only discovered when search for other missing articles was made, thus fulfilling what seems an universal law of nature, that if people look for one thing, they generally find another.
We at first thought that her choice of dormitories was indiscriminate, but she proved to be simply experimenting on their different merits until she should have found a hiding-place completely suited to all her requirements. This standard being eventually reached by her discovery
