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LIX. Anatomical Ohfcrvat'ions on the StruSure of the Orni- 

 iboryjichics Paradoxus. By J. F. Blumenbach, Pro- 

 fejjor of Medicine at Gb'ttingen, and Member of the Me- 

 dical Societj oj Paris *, 



T, 



HE fpecimen of this animal in my pofiTeflion is about 

 3 inches in length; the head is 4 inches; the tail nearly 

 the fame; and the neck and trunk 10 inches f. 



It is covered with two kinds of hair. The interior gray, 

 fhort, and very fott, like down ; that on the outfidcj mixed 

 with others longer and ftifler, brovvnifli on the back, and yel- 

 lowifh on the bellv. 



The limbs arc fiiort. The fore feet are about 3!- inches 

 in length ; the hind feet are fomewhat longer. The feet 

 have five toes, palmated {natatorii). The natatory mem- 

 branes of the fore feet are very broad, not inl'erted between 

 the toes, but attached below them, fo as to be better calcu- 

 lated for diving. 



The tail flat, and covered with ftiff hair like bridles. 



But what appears moft lingular and anomalous is the con- 

 formation of the head, being furniflicd with a broad beak 

 Tefcmbling that of a duck. The mandibles, fpatula^-formed, 

 are flat. The upper one, about 2 inches in length, and 

 lid in breadth. 



Thefe mandibles are covered with a coriaceous membrane, 

 which extends to the corners of their aperture. 



The under mandible, which is narrower than the upper, 

 isferrated {a, fig. i. Plate TX.) on the edges, as is the cafe in 

 a duck's bill. The palate is furrowed acrofs. 



My fpecimen is detiitute of teeth, like that defcribed by 

 Dr, Shaw ; but I have lately been informed, in a letter from 

 •Sir Jofeph Banks, that in another fpecimen two fmall dentes 

 molares have been found on each fide of each mandible. 



The wKole beak at the root is edged with an undulated 

 membranaceous border running acrofs it {b). 



■* From Memoir^! de 1 1 Socicie Me Ji rale cfEmi/lation, qitatrieme atnu'e. 



f Dr. Bohba, a very ri:("ptctable pliyfician now rcfident at Gottingtr, 

 had before fent us a vtrv intercfting note on the oryiitboiynchus paradoxus, 

 in which he fays that there are tl\ree fpecimens in Great Britain fimilar to 

 that in the pofTefiion of profclTor Blumenbach; viz. one in the Britifh 

 Mufseum ; one in the pofllllion of Mr. Dobron.an amateur of natural hif- 

 torv at London; and a third in the univtriity of Edinburgh. But the 

 information he ftnt us having been ahtadv pubhftied in the BuUitin des 

 Sciences, we did not think it neceffary to infert it in this work. We have 

 confined ourfelvcs tlierefore to theft ntw obfervations of profeffor Blumen- 

 bach. — Noie of the frcncb Editor. 



The 



