98 THE TRIUMPH OF THE MAMMALS 



or Sydney University, they call It the Ornithorhyncus 

 ("Bird Nose"). In describing the life of the early 

 mammals at the beginning of this chapter I described 

 the Platypus. It makes a nest in its burrow, and 

 lays eggs in the nest. When the young are born 

 they lick the mother's breast, and they are nourished 

 by the fat (milk) which oozes through the pores. So 

 the Duckmole is a reptile is so far as it lays eggs, 

 which no other mammal in the world does, but a true 

 mammal because it suckles its young. 



There is a very different animal of the same family, 

 the Spiny Ant-Eater, in New Guinea; but we will 

 pass on to the next stage. As everybody knows, the 

 native animal population of Australia consists entirely 

 of pouched animals like the kangaroo. There is a 

 wild dog, or Dingo, that has puzzled naturalists a 

 good deal; but on the whole it seems to have been 

 introduced by early man, who must have been in 

 Australia a quarter of a million years ago. The na- 

 tive population are kangaroos, wallabies, and other 

 animals which are distinguished by the mother carry- 

 ing her young in a pouch in front of her belly. 



The reason for this peculiar arrangement is very 

 interesting. Most people, even children, know that 

 the young of one of the ordinary mammals — a kitten, 

 puppy, whale, or human being — is formed in the 

 mother's womb, and built up on her blood. Certain 

 blood-vessels connect the little body in the womb 

 with the mother's blood-vessels. The child is "blood 



