their correct position in a natural arrangement. The Carnivorous Marsupials of Australia, which are readily distinguished from their Herbivorous brethren by their having the second and third toes of the hind foot disunited and free, by the structure of their teeth, which is modified to suit their diet, and by their simple stomach being unprovided with a cœcum, present four very distinct types. These are Myrmecobius of which we have already spoken, Phascogale—a genus embracing numerous small species of insectivorous Marsupials, arboreal in their habits, and Dasyurus and Thylacinus, two distinct terrestrial forms containing larger animals of truly carnivorous diet. Of the smaller Insectivorous species Mr. Gould's work furnishes us with illustrations of no less than seventeen species, which he divides into three genera Phascogale, Antechinus, and Podabrus, and there is little doubt that the yet unexplored portions of the Australian Continent will furnish us with additional species of this group. These delicate and elegantly formed Marsupials, the largest of which does not exceed the common Rat in bulk, inhabit every part of Australia, climbing the trees and shrubs in search of their prey. The thick-tailed Podabri "frequent the interior rather than the coast." The Antechini, on the other hand," inhabit both districts." "Wherever there are trees or shrubs," Mr. Gould tells us, one or other of these little mammals are to be found: some evincing a partiality for the fallen boles lying upon the ground, others running over the branches of those that are still standing."

The genus Dasyurus, which is merely a modification of the same type as Phascogale, contains five species of flesh-eating animals of moderate size, in which a strikingly similar, though fallacious, external resemblance to a corresponding group of Placental carnivoresthe Weasels and Martens-is again presented to us. "The resemblance, however," as Mr. Waterhouse remarks, "is superficial, and when the species are compared in detail, many important differences present themselves." Four species of true Dasyurus are distributed over various parts of Australia and Tasmania, while the somewhat abnormal form Sarcophilus is confined to Tasmania. Last, but not least, of the Australian Carnivores comes the Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) confined like the Sarcophilus, at the present epoch to Tasmania, although closely allied representatives of each of these forms have been discovered fossil in the mainland. The Thylacine has, however, died out some ages since in Australia proper, and before very long its Tasmanian brother will probably

share the same fate under the unsparing hand of the settler, on whose flocks of sheep it commits perpetual ravages.

Next to the Thylacine Mr. Gould places the Wombats (Phascolomys) which more correctly form a part of the Phalangistine series, from which they are but doubtfully distinct as a family. Mr. Waterhouse, though in obedience to the lead of Prof. Owen he has kept them distinct in his History of Mammals, is inclined to regard these animals as constituting little more than "an aberrant section of the Phalangistida, to which they appear to bear the same sort of relationship as that which exists between the Voles (Arvicola) and the Rats (Mus) among the Rodents." The Wombats, in fact, as Mr. Waterhouse observes, differ from the Phalangers, chiefly in having rootless teeth, but also in the reduced number of upper incisors. Other differences, such as the short broad solid nails of the fore-feet and the small development of the thumb are naturally involved in the distinct habits of the Wombats, which are entirely terrestrial animals, retreating for protection into burrows excavated by themselves in the ground. But one recent species of the genus Phascolomys was until recently sufficiently well known, though a second had been constituted upon a skull in the Museum of the College of Surgeons. A very distinct second species from South Australia, has however, been lately received living in England, and Mr. Gould gives us, in the present work, our first description and figure of this animal, under the appropriate name Phascolomys lasiorhinus. Besides this hairy-nosed species, there are other doubtfully distinct forms (P. latifrons, and P. niger) figured by Mr. Gould, closely allied to the naked-muffled P. wombat of Tasmania.

With the Wombats Mr. Gould concludes the first volume of this work, devoting the second entirely to the illustration of the great family of Kangaroos (Macropodide) which must be considered as par excellence the most important and most characteristic group of the Australian Mammal-fauna. Of the Kangaroos Mr. Gould figures no less than forty-four Australian species, besides three from New Guinea, and gives indications many or less precise of several others. Although some of Mr. Gould's species will be considered by many naturalists as more or less in the light of local varieties, it is probable that when the Australian Mammal-fauna is completely worked out not less than fifty species of this extensive group may be found to be sufficiently characterised. Although Mr. Gould has sub-divided the Kangaroos into a variety of small genera, there appear to be in

Australia only two recent forms in this family that present any very tangible structural differences. These are the true Kangaroos (Macropus) of larger size and with the upper canines usually deciduous when present, and the Rat-Kangaroos (Hypsiprymnus) of smaller size and with a distinct canine tooth in the upper jaw. These two groups are also distinguishable by the structure of the fore-foot, the toes in the Hypsiprymni being more unevenly developed, the three central toes being proportionately longer, and thus fitting them for digging up the roots of certain plants on which they subsist, while the Macropodes are browsing animals, and feed upon the grass of the surface. Mr. Gould is, however, without doubt correct in his application of different terms to the various smaller sections of the Macropodide, and we extract from his preface the following lively account of several subgroups :

"In the body of the work three species of true Macropus are figured and others are described, but not represented. These are all inhabitants of the southern districts of Australia and Van Diemen's Land. To say that no true Macropus, as the genus is now restricted, would be found in Northern Australia, would be somewhat unwarrantable; at the same time, I have never seen an example from thence. The genus Osphranter, on the other hand, the members of which, as has been before stated, are always found in rocky situations, have their representatives in the north as well as in the south, but they are not found in Van Diemen's Land. The splendid O. rufus is an animal of the interior, and frequents the plains more than any other species of its genus. At present, the back settlements of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia are the only countries whence I have seen specimens. The great Black Wallaroo (O. robustus) forms its numerous runs among the rocks, and on the summits of mountains, bordering the rivers Mokai and Gwydyr. The O. Parryi ranges over the rocky districts of the headwaters of the Clarence and adjacent rivers, while the O. antilopinus is as yet only known in the Cobourg Peninsula.

"The smaller Petrogalae differ from all the other Kangaroos, both in the form of their feet and the structure of their brushy dangling tails. With the exception of Tasmania, these rock-lovers dwell everywhere, from north to south, and from east to west. The P. penicillata inhabits New South Wales; the P. xanthopus, South Australia; the P. lateralis, Western Australia; the P. concinna and P. brachyotis, the north-west coast; and the P. inornata, the opposite rocky shores of the east.

"The true Wallabies, or Halmaturi, are all brush animals, and are more universally dispersed than any of the other members of the entire family. Tasmania is inhabited by two species, New South Wales by at least five, South Australia by two or three, and Western Australia by the same number; while the genus is represented on the north coast by the H. agilis. It will be clear, then, that the arboreal districts of the south, with their thick and impenetrable brushes, are better adapted for the members of this genus than the hotter country of the north.

"The Onychogale are, par excellence, the most elegantly formed, and the most beautifully marked members of the whole family, and they are, moreover, as graceful in their actions as in their colouring they are pleasing to the eye. One species, the O. frænata, inhabits the brigaloe-scrubs of the interior of New South Wales and Queensland, and probably South Australia. The O. lunata plays the same part, and affects very similar situations in Western Australia; while the O. unguifera, as far as we yet know, is confined to the north-eastern parts of the

continent.

"The Lagorchestes are a group of small hare-like Kangaroos, which dwell in every part of the interior of the southern portion of the mainland, from Swan River on the west to Queensland on the east; one species has, however, been found in the northern districts-the L. Leichhardti, as it has been named in honour of its discoverer, the late intrepid and unfortunate explorer, Dr. Leichhardt. They are the greatest leapers and the swiftest runners among small animals I have ever seen; they sleep in forms, or seats, like the common Hare (Lepus timidus) of Europe, and mostly affect the open grassy ridges, particularly those that are of a stony character. The beautiful L. fasciatus of Swan River is one of the oldest known; the L. Leichhardti the latest yet discovered.

"The Bettongiæ, with their singular prehensile tails, also enjoy a wide range, the various species composing the genus being found in Tasmania, New South Wales, Southern and Western Australia, but, so far as we yet know, not in the North. For a more detailed account of the localities favoured with the presence of these animals, and the manner in which their prehensile tails are employed in carrying the grass for their nest, I must refer to the history of the respective species, and particularly to the plate of Bettongia cuniculus.

"The Hypsiprymni are the least, and perhaps the most aberrant group of this extensive family. They inhabit the southern and most humid parts of the country, and are to be found everywhere, from Tasmania to the 15th degree of latitude on the continent in one direction, and from the scrubs of Swan River and King George's Sound to the dense brushes of Moreton Bay in the other; like most other Kangaroos, they are nocturnal in their habits, grub the ground for roots, and live somewhat after the manner of the Peramelide, with which, however, they have no relationship."

Mr. Gould also gives us figures (for which we thank him) of three Kangaroos peculiar to New Guinea, belonging to two genera, to which we shall advert in a future portion of our article.

The third and concluding volume of Mr. Gould's work is devoted to the placental Mammals of Australia. Excluding the marine forms, the placental terrestrial Mammals of this singular fauna amount only to some 50 or 60 in number, while the implacentals are certainly twice as numerous in species. And what is more remarkable, the more highly organized and more bulky Mammals are entirely deficient in this strange country, Rodents and Bats constituting all but one of the placental fauna, whilst the single Carnivore now met with is usually, and we believe justly, considered a recent introduction, probably due to the agency of man.

To commence then with the Rodents, of which 29 species are recognized in Mr. Gould's work. The Australian Rodents belong to three genera only, Hapalotis and Hydromys, both peculiar to the Australian fauna, and the cosmopolitan Mus, of which 13 species are figured by Mr. Gould. Although thus feebly represented when compared with the great development attained by the Marsupial type, the Rodents, contrary to what has been formerly supposed to be the case, form, as Mr. Gould assures us, "no inconspicuous fea"ture among the quadrupeds of that country. They are very nume"rous in species, and almost multitudinous in individuals. Every

"traveller who has visited the interior can testify to this fact. If "exploration has been his object, the numerous runs and tracks of "these little animals must have been frequently presented to his "notice-every grassy bed being tenanted by its own species of Mus, "while all the sand-hills are run over by the same or other species, "interspersed with the Jerboa-like Hapalotides. The sluggish river"reaches and water-holes of nearly every part, from Tasmania through "all the southern portions of the continent, have their muddy banks "traversed by the Hydromys, or Beaver-Rats, as they have been very "appropriately called."

The Chiroptera of Australia, which Mr. Gould next proceeds to handle, are perhaps the most imperfectly treated of any part of his subject. But this is a group of Mammals so little known, so difficult to understand, and in such a state of confusion from having been misused by various naturalists ignorant of the subject, that we can well sympathise with our author when he expresses his (comparative) dissatisfaction with this part of his work. Mr. Gould, however, presents us with excellent illustrations of 23 species of this order. Four Bats of the genus Pteropus are the only representatives of the frugivorous Chiroptera in Australia. This form is evidently of comparative recent introduction into the Australian fauna. From their stronghold in the Indian Archipelago they have crossed by New Guinea to Cape York, and one species has descended as far south as New South Wales. But in Central and Western Australia, frugivorous Bats are, we believe, altogether unknown. The insectivorous forms of Chiroptera are better represented. Cosmopolitan Vespertilio and Scotophilus have each of them several Australian species, and Nyctophilus (a form highly characteristic of the Australian regions, which has lately been the subject of valuable memoirs by two experienced Chiropterists *) has at least five representatives in the country. Of Molossus the single known Australian species has, as yet, only been met with in South Australia, but this, as well as Rhinolophus and Taphozous, the two remaining forms of Australian Chiroptera-as given by Mr. Gould-are all of them genera of somewhat wide distribution.

Mr. Gould's great work is terminated with plates of two Seals, Arctocephalus lobatus and Stenorhynchus leptonyx, and, finally, with

*Mr. R. F. Tomes, in Proc. Zool. Soc., 1858, p. 25, and Dr. W. Peters, in Abhand. Acad. Berl., 1860, p. 135.