400 Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology. 



as Lo the peculiar formation of the fore-legs ; it can turn them 

 almost any way. He is not, I think, equally accurate regard- 

 ing the uses of the spur. It is my firm conviction that the ani- 

 mal has not the power of instilling poison by its spur ; and I be- 

 lieve this appendage is used principally for securing the female 

 in the season of love, though it may also be useful in enabling 

 the animal to climb the steep banks of rivers. I have taken 

 several large females, and I suppose old ones, with the hair 

 worn off, and only the line fur left on their rump ; and although 

 I have killed very large males, never found one in that state. 

 The moment I saw the first old female thus denuded, it struck 

 me that the denudation must arise from the action of the spur 

 of the male in holding the female. If this be the principal use 

 of the spur, and if it contained poison, I think it would be apt 

 to wound the female at such times. I am so convinced that the 

 spur is harmless, that I should not fear a scratch from one. 

 However, I will try and set the matter at rest the first opportu- 

 nity, by causing a male to scratch or wound a chicken. The 

 female has no false belly or " sac," as Ur Knox seems to think 

 it has, for I have taken about ten females, and never found any 

 with that peculiar formation. I believe, however, the female 

 gives suck ; for, on skinning some females, I found the appear- 

 ance of a gland, as if the seat of the " mammae ;"" but not ha- 

 ving any other object in view but the skin, and the appearance 

 not being very striking, I did not examine it particularly. The 

 ornithorynchi have holds or burrows in the banks, and among 

 the rocks, and although they are most excellent divers, they do 

 not live in the water, but on land. — Letter from Thomas Ax- 

 Jbrd, Esq., dated Thorpe, SOth June 1828. 



12. Frozen Fish ?'eanimated. — I heard lately from an officer 

 who had served in Canada, a fact which is well known in that 

 country. My informant told me, that, in winter, the Canadian 

 fishermen erect huts on the ice of the lakes and rivers, and cutting 

 a hole in the ice, enclose it with a screen of straw, &c. to shelter 

 themselves from the cold wind. Sitting inside the screen, they sink 

 their hooks through the hole made in the ice. My informant said 

 that he had frequently fished in this manner, and that amongst 

 the other fish which he caught were perch in abundance. After 

 hauling them up, he threw them aside on the ice, where they 



