continues from four to six weeks, according to the heat of the weather, and is conveyed every day to a large receiver; from which it is carried, after being strained, to the boiler.

THE SUGAR MAPLE, (Acer saccharinum.)

The distribution of plants is extremely curious, but it cannot be accounted for by the influence of climate, or of temperature; for it happens not unfrequently that similar climates exist in different portions of the globe, without identity of productions. The climate of the temperate zone is analogous to that of the high mountains in the torrid zone, but no in

digenous rose-tree has been discovered in South America; nor, as yet, in the southern hemisphere. The heath, too, is wanting, that beautiful genus, which often spreads like a purple light upon the mountains, and over the commons of this country; and as the heath is unknown in the New World, so is the mimosa, as a wild plant, throughout Europe. Its delicate and airy foliage is never seen to wave even in sunny Italy, unless fostered by art: and among the mysteries of nature, which set all human conjecture at defiance, is the extraordinary fact that mimosas grow best in North America, where also a greater variety and luxuriance of vegetation is observable than in the most temperate parts of Europe, notwithstanding a greater severity of climate. Species of the pine and elm, the beech and oak, are found in America, but they differ from the Asiatic and European species. The lofty mountains of the New World are adorned with plantains and valerians, with ranunculuses, arenarias, and medlars, and with trees and shrubs to which travellers have given European names, in consequence of an obvious similarity; but they are all specifically different.

Returning, now, to the subject of animals, we proceed to speak of the Marsupiata, or pouched animals, a distinct class in the arrangement of Baron Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, supposed till lately to be restricted to the continent of America, though now presumed to inhabit several other portions of the globe. Concerning them, we may briefly notice, that the American Didelphes are nocturnal, that they live in trees, and subsist on insects, birds, and fruit; that the Dasyuri inhabit New

POUCHED ANIMALS.

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Holland, where they occasionally visit, though unwelcome guests, the houses of the natives; and that the Perametes also affect Australasia, where they form burrows in the earth, and run with incredible celerity. These three divisions represent, in the New World, the insectivorous animals with long teeth, such as the tenrecs and moles, which are common in other parts.

The Phalangers, properly so called, reside on trees, where they seek for fruit and insects. When they see a man, they immediately suspend themselves by

the tail, and it is possible to make them fall through weariness, by continuing to look at them for some time. They generally inhabit the Moluccas, as well as America, but the flying phalanger, the Didelphis petaurus, is peculiar to New Holland.

The Kanguroo Rat, (Macropus minor, of Shaw,) resembles his giant relative, the kanguroo, both in form and habit, and differs only by having his canine teeth in the upper jaw. He principally inhabits the wildest parts of New Holland, and prefers those deeply-wooded banks which are covered with berrybearing trees, and to which innumerable insects resort for shelter during the heat of summer. Among these, he is often seen springing in quest of prey; his mouse-coloured coat harmonizing with the gray lichen-dotted rocks, and his short fore-paws held up either to pluck the ripe fruit, or to seize some gailycoloured insect, as it sports from bush to bush. He is an innocent and playful creature, and may be easily domesticated.

None of the animal kingdom are, perhaps, equally eccentric in their appearance with the kanguroo. The irregularity of their limbs is so remarkable, that they walk on all fours with difficulty, but then they can bound with astonishing celerity, by the aid of their hind feet, while the large nail in the middle of each foot, which resembles a wooden shoe, serves as a weapon of defence.

Cuvier notices several distinct species. The elegant kanguroo (K. fasciatus,) of the Island of St. Pierre; that of Aroe, near Banda, (K. brunii); the gigantic (K. labiatus,) at least six feet high, living in troops, and headed by a chief; with a new

species, recently discovered on Bathurst Plains, of which the hair is thick and woolly,-are some of the most conspicuous.

The gigantic kanguroo is hunted for his flesh and fur, by the natives and settlers of New Holland ; but if there be a pond or river within reach, he hastens thither immediately, as the only place in which he can successfully give battle to the dogs. Here, then, he stations himself, and from the great length of his hind legs, he is enabled to stand securely on firm ground, while the dogs are obliged to keep swim ming; and nothing can be more ridiculous, than the spectacle they afford. The kanguroo stands gravely erect, with his fore-paws spread out before him, wheeling round and round to ward off his assailants. If one approaches within reach, he pounces his paw upon him, and holds him beneath the water, gazing round at the same time, with the most solemn simpleton aspect, paying no regard to the kicking of his victim, who must inevitably perish, unless some courageous colleague hastens to his assistance, and constrains the merciless kanguroo to let go his hold. Should this occur, the liberated captive is seen paddling the next moment with all his might towards the shore, looking most piteously, with no inclination to venture a second time, notwithstanding the cheering of the hunters.

Future naturalists may, probably, afford some additional particulars respecting the general habits of the kanguroo: at present we only know that they are inoffensive, and easily domesticated, though concealing beneath their innocently expressive countenances, a love of mischief which is occasionally