if 1p 2 FOOD AND HABITS CHAP. 
The Echidna feeds hke anteaters, by thrusting its tongue 
into an ant-hill, and waiting until it is covered with indignant 
and marauding ants, which are then swallowed. But this 
animal also devours worms and insects, which are extracted from 
their hiding-places by the tongue. It is mainly nocturnal, and 
prefers the seclusion of the densest scrubs of the bush, or rocky 
spots where it is free from intrusion. Dr. Semon did not find 
that the spur of this animal was used at all in self-defence ; 
but he thinks that possibly the weapon may be used, in the 
breeding season only, in the combats of the males for the females, 
when perhaps, as has been shown to be the case in Ornithorhyn- 
chus, the gland attached to it produces a poisonous secretion. 
The egg, as it appears, is transferred to the pouch by the 
mouth of the mother; the shell is broken by the emerging 
young one, which has an egg-breaking tubercle on its snout 
for this purpose; the mother removes the shell. When the 
young has attained a certain size, the mother removes it from 
the pouch, but takes it in from time to time to suckle it. When 
on her nightly rambles the young one is left in a burrow dug 
for the purpose. Dr. Semon was able, from his own observations, 
to substantiate this act of intelligence on the part of the 
Echidna. It is well known that the temperature of the Mono- 
tremes is less than that of higher mammals; in addition to this 
fact Dr. Semon found that the range of variation of tempera- 
ture in the Echidna was as much as 15 degrees or more. It is 
thus intermediate between the “ poikilothermal ” reptiles and the 
“homoeothermal ” mammals. 
Fam. 2. Ornithorhynchidae.—There is no need to attempt to 
define this family, since it contains but one genus Ornithorhynchus, 
with but one species, O. anatinus. The general aspect of the 
animal is well known. It is covered with dense fur of a blackish 
brown colour; the limbs are short and five-toed, the toes being 
webbed. The tail is longish and broad, being flattened from 
above downwards. The webbing on the anterior toes consider- 
ably outdistances the tips of the claws, as in the Seals. But this 
is not the case with the hind-feet. The “beak,” which is broad 
and flat, and does actually suggest that of a duck, is not covered 
with horn, as is often stated, but with a fine, soft, sensitive, naked 
skin, which abounds in sense-organs of a tactile nature. As to 
characters derived from the skeleton, Ornithorhynchus has seven- 
ea a ee 
