THE ECHIDNA. 



229 



MOUTH (A) AND NOSE- 

 SNOUT (B) OF ECHIDNA. 



then they are united by plain lines of junction, and not by jagged sutures. The shoulder and the 

 bones of the upper part of the chest resemble those of the Water Mole, and will be noticed in its 

 description. The brain of the Echidna weighs about one-fiftieth of the whole body, and the hemi- 

 spheres do not conceal the cerebellum. There are three convohitions behind, and in front of them is a 

 large one bent on itself, and on its outside are some oblique folds. The sense of smell, evidently acute 

 in the Echidna, is assisted by a large development of the olfactory lobes of the brain and their nei'ves. 



The Echidnas have large marsupial bones. They have not a true pouch, but only a rudimentary 

 one, or rather an infolding of the skin, during the breeding season, in the female. The orifices of the 

 teats are situated beneath the level of the skin, and inverted ; and as the surrounding parts swell under 

 the influence of suckling, there is a little cavity made, at the bottom of which 

 are the so-called nipples. They are really little depressions with hair around 

 them. The young Echidnas are placed in this temporary cavity by the mother, 

 and help themselves by placing their snouts in the small depressions leading 

 to the milk gland. Captain Armit says that some force is required to get the 

 young out of the pouch, and that there is probably a muscular ring to it. 

 They are at first very small. When about a month or so old, the hinder 

 pai-ts of the young may be seen sticking out of the region of the fold, and at 

 three months the body may be observed, the animal still adhering by its 

 snout. When the prickles of the young begin to harden, the old one turns 

 them out into the world. (But see Postscript, p. 234.) 



A short-spined Echidna (Echidna setosa) inhabits Van Diemen's Land, 

 whose hah" is sufficiently long to hide most of the spines, but little is known 

 regarding its habits. Quoy and Gaimard, two French naturalists, kept one 

 for a month, and it took no food, but after that time it began to lap and to 

 eat a mixture of flour, sugar, and water. It burrowed very rapidly, and got 

 to the bottom of a large can full of earth and plants in the course of a few minutes, and it was assisted 

 in this by its snout. 



A species of Echidna has been found in the north of the Island of New Guinea, at the Mont 

 des Karons and Mount Arfak, at an altitude in the first place of 1,150 yards. It likes the rocky 

 broken ground, and is unknown on the sea coast. The natives call it " Nokdiak," and hunt it for the 

 flesh. As the animal burrows well, the natives dig down about a yard in different places, and gene- 

 i-ally cut across one of the underground runs. It has been described, and has been named after the 

 explorer, M. Brujn. It is more robust and larger than the species from Australia and Yan Diemen's 

 Land, has a very long snout three times the length of the head a short tail, and is black in colour 

 with white points. The fur is plentiful, and like velvet, whilst the spines are scanty, and about mid- 

 v-jiy in strength between those of the two Australian kinds. The number of nails on the fore and 

 hind feet is singular in this New Guinea Echidna, for there are three on each instead of five. The 

 tongue of the species is longer and more spiny ; moreover, the number of vertebrae differs in this new 

 kind. There are seventeen dorsal instead of fifteen, and there is one caudal more than in the others. 

 The spiny pimples on the tongue and palate, so well developed in this Echidna, have tempted Professor 

 Gervais to include it in a new genus, Acanthoglossus ; but it is as well to retain the old name, so that 

 the creatiire is called Echidna Brujiiii. Another species has been found in the south of New Guinea, 

 at Port Moresby, which is distinguished chiefly by the long, thin, cylindrical form of the quills, and 

 the stiff, flat, hair-like bristles on the face. The tint of the flattish bristles covering all the body and 

 limbs, except the back, is bi-own ; on the back are long cylindrical spines, some white and others black. 

 There are five claws to each foot, and the second hind toe is said to be the largest. The fore limbs are 

 short, stout, and strong. It has been named Echidna La wesii (Ramsay), after its discoverer. All these 

 animals can roll themselves up. 



THE WATER MOLE, OR DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.* 



Like most of the other objects of natural history found in Australia and the neighbouring islands, 

 the Water Mole is veiy singular in its consti-uction, nature, and habits. It is of all animals that 



* Ornithorhynchus anatinus. 



