MAMMALIA. 611 



Mammif. PI. 75, fig. 2. Peron admits two species : Ornithm-hynchus rufus 

 and Ornitk. fuscus, Voyage cle decouv., Atl. PL xxxiv. (these figures are 

 badly coloured). In my youtb I undertook the defence of this oiainion and 

 gave figures from stuffed specimens, Nov. Act. Acad. Ccvs. Lcop. Carol. XI. 

 2> 1823, i^p. 351—372, Tab. 47; I now attach no imjiortance to them, 

 since tlie unanimous opinion of travellers is against it. Some individuals 

 are more ruddy-brown ; others, especially the larger, are dark-brown on 

 the back ; the under surface is grey. 



Compare on the anatomy Home Philos. Trans., 1802, pp. 67—84, PI 

 2—4, 1819, pp. 234 — 241 (also in his Lectures on comp. Anat.), the class 

 ical work of J. F. Meckel OrnitJwrhyncJd 2^aradoxi descriptio anutomica 

 Lipsiaj, 1826 fol., Owen Phil. Trans. 1822, P. 2, pp. 517—538, 1834, P 

 ^' PP- 555—566, &c. and in Todd's Cyclop. Article Monotremata, iir. pp 

 366 — 407. The young animal is described and figured by him in Trans, of 

 the Zool. Soc. Vol. I. 3, 183s, pp. 221—228. On the mode of life and the 

 economy Bennett has given an interesting paper, ibid. pp. 229 — 258. See 



also the observations of Veereaux, Bevue Zoolog. 1848, pp. 127 134, 



which for the most part correspond with those of Bennett. 



Section II. Orygopoda s. Tachyglossa. 

 Feet fossorial, not j)almate. 



Tachjglossus Illig., Echidna Cuv.' (Spec, of OrmthorJiynchus 

 Home.) Teeth none. Snout subulate, somewhat depressed, with 

 gape of mouth at the apex small Tongue round, long, exsertile. 

 Body covered with hairs and spines. Claws large, the second and 

 third of hind feet very long, falciform. Tail very short, truncate at 

 the apex. 



Sp. Tachyfflossus acideatus Illig., Sohkeb. ii. Tab. 6s B,, Myrmecophaga 

 aculeata Shaw Natur. Miscellany, Vol. iii. PI. 109, OrnithorliT/nchus Hys- 

 trix Home Philos. Trans. 1802, PI. 10, Wateehouse Mamm. 1. p. 41; 

 New Holland. — Tachyglossus setosus, Echidna setosa Gov., Echidna hrcvia- 

 culcata Tiedem., Home 1. 1. Tab. 63 c; Van Diemen's Land. (This species 

 or local variety has longer hairs and shorter spines on the back.) These 

 animals burrow under ground, live on ants and other insects, and are, even 

 more than the Onuthorhynchus, nocturnal animals. They attain a length of 

 fourteen to seventeen inches. Compare Home 1. 1. A figure of the skeleton 

 is to be found in Meckel's Beitr. zur vergl. Anat. i. 2, Tab. 9, in Cuvier 

 Rech. s. Ics Ossein, foss. v. 1, PI. 13, and in Pander wid D'Alton SMeie 

 der zahnl. Thiere, Tab. 3. The brain is figured and described by Laurent 

 in GuERiN il/rt^ras. deZool. 1838, CI. i, pp. 141— 152, PI. 30. The cerebrum 



1 Tahleau element, 1798, p. 143; ix.i-^va, the same as ^x^s, is a species of snake or 

 adder. I cannot suppose that Cdvier had this in his mind, but rather ix^uos, hedge- 

 hog, as indeed his addition fourmiUer epineux indicates. The name, therefore, to have 

 any meaning, must be modified. Hence Tachyglossus is to be preferred. 



39—2 



