132 VERTEBRATA. MAMMALIA. 



became thinner. It burrowed with very great ra- 

 pidity. Messrs. Bass and Flinders inform us that 

 one escaped from their dogs, by burrowing in the 

 loose sand, not head foremost, but by sinking himself 

 directly downwards, and thus presenting nothing but 

 his prickly back to his adversaries. 



Some interesting notes are given by Lieut. Breton, 

 to the Zoological Society,* of one which he was 

 endeavouring to bring to England. " Previously to 

 embarkation, this individual was fed on ant-eggs 

 [pupae ?] and milk, and when on board, its diet was 

 egg chopped small, with liver and meat. It drank 

 much water. Its mode of eating was very curious, 

 the tongue being used at sometimes in the manner of 

 that of the chameleon, and at others in that in which 

 a mower uses his scythe, the tongue being curved 

 laterally, and the food, as it were, swept into the 

 mouth : there seemed to be an adhesive substance 

 on the tongue, by which the food was drawn in. 

 The animal died suddenly, off Cape Horn, while the 

 vessel was amidst the ice; perhaps in consequence 

 of the cold, but not improbably on account of the 

 eggs with which it was fed being extremely bad." 



As the present work may fall into the hands of 

 some of our intelligent countrymen who yearly emi- 

 grate to the lands where these singular animals 

 abound ; and considering the very great interest 

 which attaches to the. transmission of a living spe- 

 cimen to Europe, an object never yet accomplished, 

 it may not be amiss to quote a few hints added 

 by Lieut. Breton, for this purpose, especially as he 

 Proc. 1834, p. 23. 



