AUSTRALIA 153 
shell. The neck is incapable of being withdrawn as is the case with 
tortoises and most other terrapins, but is folded sideways under 
the carapace. 
On the outward passage through Melbourne I had constructed 
six fairly large traveling boxes for snakes, and had arranged with 
Dr. Kellaway, head of the Medical Research Institute, to supply 
me with as many species as possible. These were snakes collected 
over a wide area of Australia and had been “milked” for their 
venom for the purpose of inoculating animals, from which anti- 
venom serum was then prepared for use in snake-bite emergencies. 
They included the Brown, Tiger, Kangaroo, Black and Red-bellied 
Black; and Superb and Shaw’s Death-adders. Besides these were a 
number of Blue-tongued Skinks and Stump-tailed Lizards. 
At Adelaide I was given a Moloch Lizard, which, as its scien- 
tific name—Moloch horridus—implies, is a horrible thing to look 
at. It is mainly yellowish in color but is dotted with symmetrical 
reddish-brown patches, though on occasions it goes a dark uniform 
color, losing its ornamental spots. The most bizarre feature is its 
horn-like spines projecting outwards and backwards—one each 
side of the head. The rest of the body, legs, and tail are covered 
with conical spines resembling rose thorns, and the spaces be- 
tween these are dotted with small tubercles, the whole giving this 
wholly inoffensive animal a most frightening aspect. It inhabits the 
dry treeless plains of south and western Australia and lives almost 
entirely on black ants; it is so specialized in this respect that it is 
hard to get it to take anything else. 
A night or two before reaching Bombay I took the platypus 
from his sleeping box and put him in his feeding tank. He swam 
around with great vigor and mopped up his worms greedily. I 
usually limited him to half an hour of such activities, then dried 
him and he was put back in his private sleeping quarters. 
On this particular evening I left him, to change hurriedly for 
dinner. A final glance showed that he was really enjoying himself, 
but on my return in under thirty minutes I found him stone dead! 
He had eaten all his food and had apparently wanted to return 
to his box, and this he was unable to do. He was frustrated, so 
he died. It was a great blow to me, though his body, which I put 
