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Rh is very common, it is considered as "varmint," (vermin) and disliked for its ravages in the poultry vards&#59; where it sucks the blood without eating the flesh. It climbs trees readily, but crawls slowly on the earth: it is fond of hanging from a branch, suspended by the tail&#59; and, thus pendent, frequently swings itself from bough to bough. When attacked, it will feign itself to be dead, when no beating will induce it to shew any signs of life&#59; even dogs are deceived, and turning it over, pass it by. The initiated, however, maintain that they can at all times, even when the relaxation of the muscles of the body and limbs seems to be perfect, distinguish an Opossum in this singular state of hypocrisy from one really dead, by a living coil in the last joints of the tail, which is never resigned. From this curious habit, a person assuming a feigned character, is provincially said to be ’possuming.

The most obvious distinction between the animals of this Family and the Opossums, consists in the tail being void of any prehensile power, and being thickly clothed with hair through its whole length. The form of the skull is, however, more dog-like&#59; the canines are larger, more curved and pointed, and the incisors are fewer in number, eight only being found in the upper, and six in the lower jaw. The thumbs of the hind feet are either very small or altogether wanting.