BY E. H AVI LAND. 425 



at all prepared to say, that the whole of this species or even any 

 individual plant of the species is entirely so. It is a very rare 

 tiling for a plant to bear cleistogamous flowers only. There are 

 generally some few opening and exposing themselves to cross- 

 fertilisation in the usual way, as though nature in any case were 

 loth to depend entirely on self-fertilisation. 



Temperature of the body of Echidna Hystrix Cuv. 

 By N. de Miklouho Maclay. 



During my stay in Brisbane in July 1879, I had an opportunity 

 of getting two Echidna hystrix for the study of the brain. I 

 kept them for several weeks before I had time to begin the 

 anatomical dissection, and they enjoyed the most perfect health, 

 appearing very sleepy during the day, but more active during the 

 night, and leaving a soup plate of milk thickened with some 

 flour quite empty in the mornings. Being at last ready to examine 

 the brain of one of them, and before injecting a dose of hydr. 

 chlor., I took the opportunity of observing the temperature of the 

 body of the animal. A very sensitive thermometer, placed in the 

 cloaca, after lying there undisturbed for ten minutes showed the 

 temperature of 28° 3 C. (about 83<> F.) 



Believing that the large opening of the cloaca had interfered 

 with the correctness of the observations, I made a small incision 

 just large enough to introduce the oblong ball of the thermometer 

 into the cavity of the abdomen. The thermometer was left there 

 over ten minutes and showed a temperature of 30^ C. (86° F.) 



Not satisfied with this observation, and finding that the 

 observed temperature of the Echidna is much below the known 

 average temperature of the body of Mammalia, I repeated the 

 observation on the other specimen. The second observation was 

 made the 9th July. The temperature of the air that day was 

 20° C. (68° F.) I made again a small incision, and observed 

 the temperature, in this incision and in the abdominal cavity. 



