BY H. S. HALCIIO WARDLAW. 



235 



been added to hinder coagulation. These animals are apt to so 

 gorge themselves upon milk (they are able to drink as much as 

 30% of their body- weight of it) that, if clotting be allowed to take 

 place unhindered, a solid mass, which digests very slowly, is 

 formed in the stomach and eventually causes death. 



Of the ten Echidnas under observation, Nos.1-7 were caught 

 in Autumn, Nos.8-10 in Spring. These animals survived for 

 varying lengths of time, after coming under observation, as set 

 forth in tabular form below. 



It will be noticed that the animals captured in Autumn lived, 

 on the average, much longer than those taken in Spring. No.6 

 had been living in captivity for about twelve months at the time 

 of writing. The death of one of the animals was due to acute 

 peritonitis. What caused the death of the others is not known, 

 although post mortem examinations showed the presence of 

 infarcts in the liver in several cases. The animals were all 

 rather emaciated before they died. 



The body-temperatures of the animals were observed by insert- 

 ing the bulb of a thermometer, graduated in tenths of a degree 

 Centigrade, through the cloaca into the rectum, and reading off 

 the temperature in situ to the nearest tenth of a degree after 

 the lapse of two minutes, the time required for the mercury to 

 become steady. The errors of the thermometers used were de- 

 termined by reference to standard instruments, and the necessary 

 corrections made to the readings. The animals were held up by 

 a hind leg while the temperature was being observed. Difficulty 

 was experienced at first in getting the thermometer into the 

 rectum, owing to the rolling-up of the animals, but they soon 

 became accustomed to handlinj', and then offered little resistance. 



