The Opossums were long supposed to be peculiar to America; but later discoveries have evinced that several species, unknown to America, exist in other parts of the globe. It is necessary to observe, that a degree of confusion still prevails among authors, relative to the synonyms of the different species.
VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM.
- Didelphis Virginia. D. subcinereo-flavescens, cauda unda, auriculis rotundatis nudis nigris, margine albis.
- Yellowish-grey naked tailed Opossum, with black, naked, rounded ears edged with white.
- D. Marsupialis? Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 71.
- D. Opossum? Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. 105.
- Opossum. Phil. Trans. abr. 2. p. 884. pl. 13.
- Virginian Opossum. Museum Leveranium, vol. 1. p. 24. pl. 6.
This, which seems to have been the species first discovered in America, is not much inferior in size to a Cat, but is of a thicker form, owing to the length and upright growth of the fur. The general measure seems to be about one foot four inches from the nose to the tail, which is commonly about a foot or thirteent inches long[1]. It is an animal of an inelegant aspect; having a long, sharpened face, and very wide mouth,
- ↑ Mr. Pennant, in his last edition of the History of Quadrupeds, says, about twenty inches from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail: of the tail thirteen inches.
