Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/273

Rh only the strong hind-feet, springing forward with enormous bounds, leaving his pursuers far behind.

The animals before us are exclusively herbivorous, grazing, like deer or antelopes, in the grassy plains of their native country, and associating in herds. ‘Their disposition is mild and docile ; and their physiognomy has much of that gentle expression which characterizes most of the Ruminants. The eye is large, full, and liquid, the ears large and erect, and the muzzle is taper. ‘They are easily reconciled to confinement; bear our climate well, and breed freely in the parks of Europe.

The characters of the Family are found most fully developed in the true Kangaroos, which are distinguished from the Kangaroo-rats by the total absence of canines, which in the latter are found in the upper jaw. The dentition is thus expressed:— inc. $6⁄2$; can. $0⁄0$; false mol. $1—1⁄1—1$; mol, $4—4⁄4—4$ = 28. In some species however, the false molars are not present. There is a vacant space of considerable extent between the incisors and the molars: the latter have nearly square crowns, which, before they have become worn by grinding, present two transverse ridges.

The head is lengthened; the ears very large; the upper lip cleft; the whiskers short and few; the hind-limbs very robust; the tail long, very thick at the base, and well covered with hairs.

The stomach is large and sacculated; forming two long pouches, divided into cavities: balls of