168 MAMMALIA. 



less remarkable ; a sort of clavicle especially, which is common 

 to both shoulders;, placed before the ordinary clavicle, and 

 analogous to the fourchette in birds. Finally, besides their five 

 nails to each foot, the males have a spur on the hinder ones, 

 perforated by a canal which transmits the liquid secreted by 

 a gland situated on the inner surface of the thigh. It is 

 asserted that the wounds it inflicts are envenomed. These 

 animals have no external conch to their ears, and their eyes 

 are very small. 



The Monotremata are only found in New Holland, and 

 have been discovered since the settlement of the English. 

 Two genera of them are known. 



Echidna, Cuv. Tachyglossus, Illig. 



The elongated slender muzzle of the Spiny Ant-Eaters, terminated 

 by a small mouth, contains an extensible tongue similar to that of 

 the Ant-Eaters and Pangolins, and like them, they feed on Ants. 

 They have no teeth, but their palate is furnished with several row^s 

 of small recurved spines. Their short feet have each five very long 

 and stout nails fitted for digging; and the upper surface of the 

 body is covered with spines like that of the Hedgehog. It appears, 

 that when in danger, they also possess the faculty of rolling them- 

 selves into a ball. Their tail is very short ; their stomach ample 

 and almost globular, and their caecum moderate ; the penis is ter- 

 minated by four tubercles. There are two species. 



E. hystrix ; Ornithorhynchus hystrix, Home ; Myrmecophaga 



aculeata, Shaw. (The Spiny Echidna.) Completely covered 



with large spines. 



E. setosa; Ornithor. setosus, Home. (The Bristly Echidna.) 



Is covered with hair, among v/hich the spines are half hidden. 



Some naturalists consider it as a mere variety from age. 



Ornithorhynchus, Blumenb. Platypus, Shaw. 



The elongated, and at the same time singularly enlarged and flat- 

 tened muzzle of the Ornithorhynchi presents the closest external 

 resemblance to the bill of a Duck, and the more so as its edges are 



among the numerous physicians who daily visit the colony of Port Jackson. As to 

 the anatomy of the Ornithorhynchus, see the detailed monography on that subject, 

 published by M. Meckel, also the Memoirs of Sir Ev. Home, ray Lessons of Com- 

 parative Anatomy, Vol. V, and the Memoirs of M. Geoffroy St Hilaire, Mem. du 

 Mus. tome XV. 



