one of the modes usually practised for taking this animal. When his den is discovered, and it is ascertained that he is abroad in the night, a sack is fastened to the mouth of it. One person remains near the hole to watch, while another, with a dog, beats round the fields to drive him home. As soon as the man at the hole hears that a badger has run in for refuge, he seizes the mouth of the sack, ties it up, and carries it off. Sometimes the badgers are caught in steel traps placed in their haunts.

The flesh of the badger, although not esteemed a delicacy, is neither unwholesome nor unpalatable: the hind quarters, especially when made into hams and well cured, are deemed by some not inferior to bacon. It is most valued for its skin, which is converted into coarse furs, horse-trappings, pistol furniture, and other articles; while the hair is made into brushes, used by painters to soften their shades.

THE OPOSSUM.

THE Opossum belongs to a curious tribe of animals, which first became known to naturalists on the discovery of America, where only most of the species are found; though some of them are natives of the Oriental and Australasian islands. They are principally distinguished by a remarkable provision which Nature has made for the safety of their young, consisting in a pouch or bag, formed by a fold of the skin. Into this pouch the young are received soon after their birth, and they are nursed within it, till they are able to shift for themselves.

The 'species called the Virginian opossum is of about the size of a cat, but it appears to be of a thicker form, owing to the length and erect position of the hair. It is of a yellowish gray

colour, with naked tail, and black, bare, rounded ears, edged with white. The head, in its general figure, resembles that of the fox; the mouth is very wide, and armed with sharp teeth. The legs are short, and all the toes, excepting the thumbs of the hinder feet, are furnished with sharp claws.

The opossum, when it is on the ground, appears to be a very helpless animal. The structure of its feet, or rather hands, for they are not unlike those of a monkey, prevents it from either walking or running very fast; but, in compensation for this apparent defect, it can climb trees with the utmost ease and expedition; and, by the aid of its prehensile tail, which is about a foot long, it is more active in this situation than most quadrupeds. It hunts eagerly after birds and their nests, and is very destructive to poultry, sucking their blood, without eating their flesh. It also eats roots and wild fruits.