100 SKELETONS OF THE MONOTilEMh 8, 



on the under side, which simply states that it is an "Ornitho- 

 "rhynchus anatinuR; Ornithcrhynchus, Australia," This is 

 the larger of the Duckbills, and its Army Medical Museum 

 label reads: — "1304 Comp. Anat. Ser.— Duck bill |)latypus 

 "from Australia: ornithorhynchus anatinus." Finally we 

 have the smaller skeleton of the Ornithorhynchus, in which 

 the skull is broken. It is mounted on a pine board, painted 

 black, and varnished, (Figs. 1 and 2.) It is altogether too 

 long for the specimen, and has an amateurish appearance 

 generally. Its Army Medical Museum label is as fellows: — • 

 "2639 Comp. Anat. Ser. — Duck-bill male; or ornithorhynchus 

 "paradoxus. From Brazil. The young have functional molar 

 "teeth, but the adult has only transverse horny ridges to 

 "strain the food from the water." (2) . 



All of these species of monotremes are now being ex- 

 terminated in nature, especially in those sections of their 

 habitats where man has occupied the country in the greatest 

 numbers. This exterminatiDn is, in fact, being effected 

 almost entirely through man's agency, which will fully 

 account for the certainty and more or less rapid increase 

 of the same, and its very probable complete accomplishment 

 in time. As in the case of all other animals, the value of 

 their skeletal remains enhances the nearer their complete 

 extinction is approached; and we may be well assured that, 

 in due time, these three skeletons, should they be preserved, 

 will come to be extremely valuable material. 



Not long after the first monotremes fell into the hands 

 of working mcrphologists, accounts of their anatomy, and 

 particularly their osteology, appeared in numerous places 

 and languages. With the passing of the years, this litera- 

 ture became almost voluminous; while later on the subject 

 was scarcely touched upon. 



Pictorially, the bones of the skeleton in both the echidnas 

 and the Duckbill Platypus have been figured a good many 

 times, Sir Richard Owen being one of the heaviest contri- 

 butors to this side of the subject. When Sir Richard wrote, 

 however, the idea dominated his mind that the vertebrate 

 skull was composed of four metamorphosed vertebra, and 



(2) Perhaps it will be just as well to note here the errors upon this 

 label, to eliminate any chance of the reader of the article gaining 

 the idea that they were made either by the author or the printer. 

 There is no necessity for the word "or" before "ornithorhynchus," 

 which latter should begin with a capital O. The animal does not 

 come from "Brazjl," and the horny ridges on its jaws arc placed 

 longitudinally and not "transverse." It is not likely that they are 

 intended to "strain the food from the water," as any one will be 

 convinced of by a casual examination. 



R.W.S. 



