OKSITHOnUVNVHUa 



ORXITHOUHYNCHUS. 



1JS 



Fmea Ik* mmateaess of Ike orifices of tbe ducts In Ike specimen* 

 witk Ik* small fUnda, Ik* trfMiH-li of tb* areola could hardly be 

 JUmlsil without prrvkmaly illseenHmr tbe gland; whilst in thoee in 

 wUeh Ik* gUods ar* fully developed, tbe areola is easily discovered 

 * Ik* removal of In* hair by a practical eye. 



Professor Owen Hales that, on eompresaing tb* uland* in a specimen 

 1. th* Museum of tb* ZwOofioal Sooiety of London, where they bad 

 arrival at Ik* maximum of development, minute drop* of a yellowish 

 oil, which aflbrded neither perceptible Usto nor smell, except what 

 wm* derived from Ike preeerving llouor, escaped from tboea onfieea. 



The diflbraoM in the sUt* of tk* female organ* of generation 

 observed in Ike OrmMorkyneii, praeenting tbe different conditions of 

 th* abdominal glands abov* described, were such as to indicate that 

 Ik* period of Ik* full activity of those glands was aubeequent to that 

 of the uterine functions; whereas, on tbe hypothesis of their being 

 sosrtgla*^. tk* relation should bar* been reversed. 



Th* following eat exhibit* tbe mammary gland fully developed. 



**mmMij Glaad of <W/WyxJkiij, reduced below the natural tin. .(Owen, 



Th* f*mal* organ* are well displayed in the preparation* preaerted 

 U Ik* HuMum of the Royal College of Surpeon*. The mort remark- 

 able feature in this part of the structure of this creature U the double 

 uUrn* which open like tb* o* tinoe in the Mammalia, and like tho 

 ovidnct in the Turtle (CMmia ilfdat). In the common external 

 p**t of the cloaca the cliu.ru it situated, which has an elongated 

 ptrpuUum : tb* clitoris is bilobed. The seamn of sexusl congres* u 

 at the latter end of September or the begiiiniug of the month of 

 October. Tb* precise period of gestation and the condition of the 

 excluded product, strictlr speaking, still rrmain to be determined ; 

 bat in the first week in December, Mr. O. Bennett found in a nut of 

 Ml OrM<A*f*jr*e**j three snail naked embryo**, not quite two iuchei 

 id length, and which be therefore supposed, with ap|*rently good 

 ground, to 



. .e eren sxes. e smaes rater 



zoreded two iaebe* in length, measured from the end of the bill to 

 Ik* ead of tb* tail in a straight liue. The largest was double that 

 su. and was on* of tb* two young Onii/Aor*yi.c*i Ukon with the 

 mother from a nest on the banks of tbe Fi.h lli'ver by Ijeutcuant the 

 UoVMunbt* Underdale Maule. and kept alire for about a fortnight 

 by tkat gentleman. Tkese specimens wen placed in the hands of 

 i'rofaawr Owen for examination, and form the subject of his paper in 

 Ik* In* volume of the Transactions of tbe Zoological Society.' Our 



Uw 



/, the o.ic* sad rwltenurr sper of th* bind 



Front riew of mindiblei of tbe same, a little open to >how the tonfne; , 

 BOstriU; t>, prominence of the upper beak; c, tbe eves; d, the ear j g, tbe 

 mrnbrane at tbe bate of tbe mandibln ; *, tbe tongue. 



Magnified figure of the hind foot of the f m.ilo, >bowing tbe tudimrntar jr 

 "l' ur . /. pmjecUng from the socket. 



Larger yonng fpeclmen of OrnirAorftynrAtu (two riewi) : o, the nostrils ; 

 *, the piomlnenee on the upper beak j c, the ejret j rf, the er ; , vent ; /, orifice 

 ml rudimentary pur of bind foot ; f, membrane at tbe base of the mandibles. 

 (Oven, ' Zoological Transactions. 1 ) 



limit* will not permit us to follow tho Professor throughout this 

 interesting memoir, to which we refer our readers ; but there are some 

 points which must be noticed. The stomach of the larger specimen 

 was found full of coagulated milk. On carefully inspecting the whole 

 contents with a lens, no pprtions of worms or bread could be detected ; 

 which, Professor Owen observes, solves the doubt entertained by 

 Lieutenant Maul* as to whether tbe mother nourished this young one 

 with the food which was given to her for her own support, or with 

 the secretion afterwards clincovered to escape from the mammary 

 pores; for the mother having been killed by accident on tho llth 

 day after her captivity, it was observed, on skinning her while yet 

 warm, that milk ooxed through the fur on the stomach. A portion 

 of the coagulated milk from the stomach of the young one was diluted 

 with water and examined by Professor Owen under a high magnifying 

 IWWPT, in compari'cin with a portion of cow's milk coagulated by 

 spirit anil siuiilnrly diluted. The ultimate globules of the Ornitho- 

 rhynchua's milk were distinctly perceptible, detaching themselves from 



