opossum

n. The marsupial animal, frequent allover Australia, which is called an Opossum, is a Phalanger (q.v.). He is not the animal to which thename was originally applied, that being an American animal ofthe family Didelphyidae. See quotations below from`Encycl. Brit.' (1883). Skeat (`Etym. Dict.') says the word isWest Indian, but he quotes Webster (presumably an older editionthan that now in use), «Orig. opassom, in the language of theIndians of Virginia,» and he refers to a translation ofBuffon's Natural History' (Lond. 1792), Vol. i. p. 214. By1792 the name was being applied in Australia. The name opossumis applied in Australia to all or any of the species belongingto the following genera, which together form the sub-family Phalangerinae, viz. – – Phalanger, Trichosurus, Pseudochirus, Petauroides, Dactylopsila,Petaurus, Gymnobelideus, Dromicia, Acrobates.

The commoner forms are as follows: – – Common Dormouse O. – – Dromicia nana, Desm.

♣ Common Opossum – – Trichosurus vulpecula, Kerr.

♣ Common Ring-tailed-O. – – Pseudochirus peregrinus, Bodd.

♣ Greater Flying-O. – – Petauroides volans, Kerr.

♣ Lesser Dormouse O. – – Dromicia lepida, Thomas.

♣ Lesser Flying-O. – – Petaurus breviceps, Water.

♣ Pigmy Flying-O. – Acrobates pygmaeus.

♣ Short-eared-O. – – Trichosurus caninus, W. Ogilby.

♣ Squirrel Flying-O., or Flying Squirrel – – Petaurus sciureus, Shaw.

♣ Striped O. – – Dactylopsila trivirgata, Gray.

♣ Tasmanian, or Sooty O. – – Trichosurus vulpecula, var. fuliginosus.

♣ Tasmanian Ring-tailed-O. – – Pseudochirus cooki, Desm.

♣ Yellow-bellied Flying-O. – – Petaurus australis, Shaw.

Of the rare little animal called Leadbeater's Opossum,only one specimen has been found, and that in Victoria;it is Gymnobelideus leadbeateri, and is the onlyspecies of this genus.

1608. John Smith, `Travels, Adventures, and Observations inEurope, Asia, Africke, and America, beginning about 1593, andcontinued to 1629;' 2 vols., Richmond, U.S., reprinted 1819;vol. i. p. 124 [On the American animal; in the part aboutVirginia, 1608]:

«An Opassom hath a head like a Swine, – – a taile like a Rat, andis of the bigness of a Cat. Under the belly she hath a bagge,wherein she lodgeth, carrieth and suckleth her young.»

[This is the American opossum. There are only two known generaof living marsupials outside the Australian region.]

1770. `Capt. Cook's Journal' (edition Wharton, 1893), p. 294[at Endeavour River, Aug. 4, 1770]:

«Here are Wolves, Possums, an animal like a ratt, and snakes.»

1770. J. Banks, `Journal,' July 26, (edition Hooker, 1896,p. 291):

«While botanising to-day I had the good fortune to take ananimal of the opossum ( Didelphis) tribe; it was afemale, and with it I took two young ones. It was not unlikethat remarkable one which De Buffon has described by the nameof Phalanger as an American animal. It was, however,not the same. M. de Buffon is certainly wrong in assertingthat this tribe is peculiar to America, and in all probability,as Pallas has said in his Zoologia, the Phalangeritself is a native of the East Indies, as my animals and thatagree in the extraordinary conformation of their feet, in whichthey differ from all others.»

1789. Governor Phillip, `Voyage to Botany Bay,' p. 104:

«The pouch of the female, in which the young are nursed,is thought to connect it rather with the opossum tribe.»

[p. 147]: «A small animal of the opossum kind.»

[p. 293]: «Black flying-opossum. [Description given.] The furof it is so beautiful, and of so rare a texture, that should ithereafter be found in plenty, it might probably be thought avery valuable article of commerce.»

1793. J. Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 68:

«The opossum is also very numerous here, but it is not exactlylike the American opossum: it partakes a good deal of thekangaroo in the strength of its tail and make of its fore-legs,which are very short in proportion to the hind ones; like thatanimal it has the pouch, or false belly, for the safety of itsyoung in time of danger.»

1798. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' fol. i.p. 562:

«At an early age the females wear round the waist a small linemade of the twisted hair of the opossum, from the centre ofwhich depend a few small uneven lines from two to five incheslong. This they call bar-rin.»

1809. G. Shaw, `Zoological Lectures,' vol. i. p. 93:

«A still more elegant kind of New Holland opossum is thepetaurine opossum . . . has the general appearance of aflying-squirrel, being furnished with a broad furry membranefrom the fore to the hind feet, by the help of which it springsfrom tree to tree. . . . Known in its native regions by thename of hepoona roo.»

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 67:

«Their food consists of fish when near the coasts, but when inthe woods, of oppossums [sic], bandicoots, and almost anyanimal they can catch.»

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 143:

«The sharp guttural noises of opossums.»

Ibid. p. 174 [`The Native Woman's Lament']:

«The white man wanders in the dark,

We hear his thunder smite the bough;

The opossum's mark upon the bark

We traced, but cannot find it, now.»

1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 324:

«The opossums usually abound where grass is to be found,lodging by day in the holes and hollows of trees. The mostcommon species is the Phalangista vulpina (Shaw), underwhich are placed both the black and grey opossums. . . . Theringtail opossum ( Phalangista or Hepoona Cookii,Desm.) is smaller, less common, and less sought after, fordogs will not eat the flesh of the ringtail even when roasted.»

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 200:

«Dogs, immediately on coming into the Australian forest, becomeperfectly frantic in the pursuit of opossums.»

1883. `Encyclopaedia Britannica' (ed. 9) [On the Australiananimal], vol. xv. p. 382:

«A numerous group, varying in size from that of a mouse to alarge cat, arboreal in their habits and abundantly distributedthroughout the Australian region . . . have the tail more orless prehensile. . . . These are the typical phalangers or`opossums,' as they are commonly called in Australia. (Genus Phalangista.)»

Ibid. p. 380 [On the American animal]:

«The Didelphidae, or true opossums, differ from allother marsupials in their habitat, being peculiar to theAmerican continent. They are mostly carnivorous orinsectivorous in their diet, and arboreal in habits.»

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 11:

«Among the colonists the younger generation are very zealousopossum hunters. They hunt them for sport, going out bymoonlight and watching the animal as it goes among the treesto seek its food.»

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

«We see two fine pairs of the Tasmanian sooty opossum( Phalangista fuliginosa); this species is unapproachedby any other in regard to size and the beauty of its fur, whichis of a rich, fulvous brown colour. This opossum is becomingscarce in Tasmania on account of the value of its fur, whichmakes it much sought after. In the next compartment are a pairof short-eared opossums ( P. canina), the mountainopossums of Southern Australia. The next is a pair of vulpineopossums; these are the common variety, and are found all overthe greater part of Australia, the usual colour of this kindbeing grey.»

1893. `Melbourne Stock and Station Journal,' May 10(advertisement):

«Kangaroo, wallaby, opossum, and rabbit skins. . . .Opossum skins, ordinary firsts to 7s. 6d; seconds to 3s.;thirds to 1s. 6d; silver greys up to 9s. per doz.; do.mountain, to 18s. per doz.»