Zoological Society. 235 



the Society on June 1 1 , 1833. (Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mug., vol. iii. 

 p. 293.) It may be characterized as follows : 



Bernicla Sandvicensis. Bern, brunneo-nigrescens, subtHs mar- 

 ginibusque plumarum pallidioribus ; collo albescenti ; guld, facie, 

 capite superne, linedque longitudinali nuchali nigris ; crisso albo. 



Long. tot. 24 uric. ; rostri, rictus, l-f j alee, 13i; caudce, 5; tarsi, 2-g-. 



Hab. in insulis Sandvicensibus, et in Owhyhee. 



Mr. Owen read a Paper " On the young of the Ornithorhynchus 

 paradoxus, Blum." It was illustrated by drawings of the young ani- 

 mal and of various details of its structure, both external and internal, 

 derived chiefly from the examination of the individual recently pre- 

 sented to the Society by Dr. Weatherhead : this individual was ex- 

 hibited, as was also a smaller specimen, forming part of Dr. Weather- 

 head's collection. 



The circumstances which first attract attention in these singular 

 objects are the total absence of hair j the soft and flexible condition 

 of the mandibles j and the shortness of these parts in proportion to 

 their breadth as compared with the adult. The tongue, which in 

 the adult is lodged far back in the mouth, advances 1n the young ani- 

 mal close to the end of the lower mandible, and its breadth is only 

 one line less in an individual four inches in length than it is in fully 

 grown animals ; a disproportionate development which is plainly in- 

 dicative of the importance of the organ to the young Ornithorhynchus 

 both in receiving and swallowing its food. 



On the middle line of the upper mandible, and a little anterior to 

 the nostrils, there is a minute fleshy eminence lodged in a slight de- 

 pression. In the smaller specimen this is surrounded by a discon- 

 tinuous margin of the epidermis, with which substance, therefore, — 

 and, probably, from its having been shed, of a thickened or horny con- 

 sistence, — the caruncle had been covered. It is a structure of which 

 the upper mandible of the adult presents no trace, and Mr. Owen re- 

 gards it as analogous to the foetal peculiarity of the horny knob on the 

 upper mandible of the Bird. He does not, however, conceive that 

 this remarkable example of the affinity of Ornithorhynchus to the fea- 

 thered class is necessarily indicative of its having been applied, under 

 the same circumstances, to overcome a resistance of precisely the 

 same character as that for which it is designed in the young bird, 

 since all the known history of the ovum of Ornithorhynchus points 

 strongly to its ovoviviparous development. 



The situation of the eyes is indicated by the convergence of a few 

 wrinkles to one point j but the integument is continuous, and com- 

 pletely shrouds the eyeball. In the absence of vision in the young 

 animal, strong evidence is afforded of its being confined to the nest, 

 there to receive its nourishment from its dam j and this deduction is 

 corroborated by the cartilaginous condition of the bones of the ex- 

 tremities, and by the general form of the body : the head and tail are 

 closely approximated on the ventral aspect, requiring force to pull the 

 body into a straight line -, and the relative quantity of integument on 

 the back and belly shows that the position necessary for progressive 

 motion is unnatural at this stage of growth. 



Mr. Owen describes other external appearances of the young Orrri- 



2 H 2 



