“Animals with these appearances, I concluded, had never borne young.  Examinations frequently took place immediately after they were shot.  In those that had recently discarded their young from the pouch, one nipple and frequently two were found much lengthened, and very often one more than the other.  I have seen them in the wallaby frequently two inches in length, and with pouches so large, that you could with ease thrust your hand into them; the uteri with their appendages enlarged and apparently very vascular, as well as thickened; but in no one instance at the Abrolhos could I detect a gravid uterus; but I have seen the young adhering to the nipples less than half an inch in length, and in a perfectly helpless state.  It is generally supposed that the uterus in the adult animal is not supplied with much arterial blood, merely sufficient to nourish that viscus.  If such be the case, can it have the power of retaining the germ in the womb, when on the most minute examination of the young, I could not detect, by cicatrice or line of abrasion on any part of the abdomen, that they ever possessed umbilical vessels, or had been in any way nourished by a placenta?  Let us take into consideration the small size of the animal found in the pouch, its utter helplessness, its slight power of motion, and its firm attachment to the nipple.  The more it is in the embryonic state the firmer is its attachment to the mother; to separate it from the nipple requires some force; the surrounding parts of the opening of the mouth, after separation, bleed profusely, and the animal has no power to close it; the opening remains gaping and circular, the animal lies on its side, and if very young, soon dies.  On each side of the opening is a line showing the extent of the mouth.  When arrived at greater maturity it can make no noise until the mouth is fully developed, and then a faint hissing note; it has no power to stand until very large, and the hair is about to shoot out from the skin.  An animal in so helpless a situation could not possibly, with all the aids and contrivances of the mother, attach itself to the nipple and produce adhesion of the oral aperture, when even at a later period it has no motion of life or power to close that opening.  The retention in the uterus must be of short duration.  I have been led to these conclusions from examinations on the banks of the Victoria River.  A flying doe, inhabiting the grass flats, of more than ordinary size, was killed.  In thrusting my fingers into the pouch, I found that the mammary glands were remarkably enlarged, pressing forcibly into that cavity.  I questioned the seaman who took up the animal, immediately after being shot, whether he had taken the young out, and received a negative answer.  Finding the mammary glands so extremely enlarged, I was induced (although pressed for time) to examine the uterus, and posterior and internal parts of those glands—­the cornua as well as the other parts of the uterus were