Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-29
A 'POSSUM'S POCKET.
Provision Nature Has Made for the
Youngsters Born in Trees.
THE POUCH OF TIE KANGAROO.
Modern Engineering Skill and the Seven
Wonders of the World.
PLEASANT TALK FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATcH.I

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.I
There is one species of wild ami m al in the
United States that might naturally excite
the envy OF the very small boy. 1t is born
with pocket-uot such pocket as the boy
gets in his early stages of trouserhood, barely
large enough to squeeze top into-but
capacious pocket that would hold not only
top, but also knife, or whistle, an assorted
lot of strings. dozen marbles aud all the
other valuable property that the average
small boy loves to freight himself with.
1t is harmless little animal, this lucky
one with tine natural pocket, but it puzzles
the naturalist more than almost anything
else of animal kind. 1t is the opossum,
found only in America, the very mention of
which will cause the mouth of Southern
negro to "wateT." The wonderful peculiar
ity Of this little animal is the arrangement
which nature has provided for the period OF
babyhood. Although the full-grown opos-
sum is as large as cat the young ones, at
birth, are
Not Bigger Than a Pea.
But this is not the strangest thing about
the little 'possums. They have a sort of
double birth. At so early stage of their
like an adult opossum they are transferred
from the normal birthplace to secondary
one. The latter is pocket or pouch on the
exterior of the females abdomen. 1t might
be likened to patch sewed outside on the
knee of a gamin's trousers, with the top left
open. This pocket is lined with fine hair,
and it opens or closes at the will of the ami
mai by an arrangement of muscles and
bones suited for the purpose.
At a very early stage in the existence of
the young opossums, and they average
dozen at time, they pass into this pocket
and each finds a fountain of nourishment
ready. to which it at once seals its lips.
There is all old adage about the desirability
of sticking to good thing, and the infan-
tile opossum seems to understand its i'm
portance. Although they are only about
the size OF a pea when they first appear
in the pocket, as remarked before,
the youngsters take possession OF
the founts and never let go (night or day)
for several weeks. In fact they hold on
until they are big enough to travel, to
emerge from the pocket and frisk about in
early attempts to gain knowledge about the
queer world of 'possumdom.
A Retreat in Time of Danger.
But if danger appears while the young
ones are taking their early outings the
mother gives a shrill signal, and the little
fellows scamper 10 her and tumble headlong
into that capacious and very useful pocket,
something like the retreat of q brood Of
chicks under the old hens wings when the
hungry hawk is looking for breakfast of
spring chicken.
There are other very queer things about
the opossum. 1t seems to love very soft
couch to sleep on, and to crafty this whim
it often sleeps IN the air. 1t does this by
twisting its tail around the limb of tree
and then hanging head downward. 1t also
assumes this attitude for catching small
animals, hanging motionless from limb,
with one eye open, ready to pounce on any,
thing that, from an opOsSum standpoint, or
rather hangpolnt. might seem good to eat.
The tail is very important part of the
opossum's anatomy. Sometimes the mother
may be seen trudging along with her whole
brood dangling from her neck by their little
tails. This caudal appendage is very strong,
almost hairless, and so rough that it will not
slip when employed for hanging purposes.
Not much can be said Tor the legs. They
are very short and the animal is not n good
traveller. But it is an excellent climber, has a
pair of very sharp eyes and is literally sup
piled with teeth-an even four dozen of
ordinary ones and two very large ones in ad-
dition. Its head is shaped something like
that of lox. Its flesh is oily with pun
gent oder. In addition to the colored peo-
pie in the South some whites regard 'possum
as delicacy, but if the reader should have
courage to tackle this delicacy the con-
clusion would probably be similar to that of
the person who s'could eat crow, but didn't
banker after it."
One Other Natural Pocket
Beside the opossum there is one large
animal that has the strange pocket residence
for its young ones. The kangaroo, found
only in Australia and the neighboring
islands. has counterpart of the opossum's
pocket although the two animals are utterly
unlike in other respects. The kangaroo
grows as large as 200 pounds in weight, and
has an enormous tail, which serves it as a
sort OF fifth leg. 1t has very long and
powerful hind legs, although Its fore legs
are short and comparatively puDy.
When moving slowly it walks on all
fours, but when in /; hurry it moves by leaps
on it hind legs, and can thus travel as fast as
the feetest horse can run. Its average leap
when pursued is about 10 teet, but 1t has been
known to make jumps of 80 feet. There is no
crowding of the pocket home of the young
kangaroo. Sometimes there are Twins, but
ordinarily one of these queer creatures has the
whole apartment to itself.
The Wonders of the World.
The greatest, or at least the most massive of
the ancient wonders of the world were the
pyramids of Egypt. Although bnilt ages be-
fore SolOmon's wisdom decided the first his
torical question of baby ownership, before
little Moses foated in the wicker basket among
the bullrushes Of the Nile, and even long before