CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 14. MONOTREMATA. 



CT 



in having shorter ears, and a tail nearly naked. The H. elegans — the Kangurus fasciatus of 

 Peron and Lesueur — is of the size of a large hare, of a mouse-gray color, haunts thick bushes, and 

 forms long galleries in the earth. It is found in the island of St. Pierre. 



Genus PHASCOLOMYS : Phascolomys. — Of this there is a single species, the Wombat P. 

 Wombat,, a short-legged, thickset animal, the body two feet long, the tail half an inch lona;. It 

 lives in burrows and feeds on vegetables. It is covered with coarse hair of a sandy-brown color ■ 

 its eyes are small and lively. Its pace is shuffling and hobbling, like that of a bear. It has 

 little intelligence, but its disposition is mild. The flesh is said to be excellent. Several living 

 specimens have been in the menageries of Europe. 



TOE ROSTKATED TAKSIPEDE. 



Genus TARSIPEDES : Tarsipes. — Of this there is only a single species, the Rostrated 

 Tarsipede, a small, pretty, mouse-like animal, about three inches long, having a rostrated or 

 beak-shaped snout, with a long prehensile tail. It lives on insects and the nectar of flowers, and 

 is found in the Swan River country, Australia. 



ORDER 14. MONOTREMATA. 



These animals, whose name is derived from the Greek monos, signifying one, and t-rema, an 

 orifice, in allusion to their organic structure, have in several respects a resemblance to birds. The 

 head is extremely small, and the facial bones project into a beak-like form; the eyes a-e small, 

 and the external ear altogether wanting. The feet have five toes covered with long nails, and 

 the males are furnished with spurs on the hind-legs. There is no abdominal pouch, as in most 

 marsupiata, but the young are produced alive, in a very immature state; the female has no 

 nipples, but in their place are slits, through which the young draw their milk. There are three 

 known species, all natives of Australia. 



Genus ECHIDNA : Echidna. — In these animals the snout or beak consists of a nearly cylin- 

 drical organ, of which both mandibles are inclosed in a continuous skin, except just at the apex, 

 where there is a small orifice to allow of the protrusion of the tongue. This latter, by an arrange- 

 ment similar to that in the true ant-eaters, is capable of being extended and contracted to an im- 

 mense extent, so that it may be exserted from the mouth to a length of nearly eight inches, and 

 retracted till it is entirely concealed. The jaws are destitute of teeth, and the nostrils are placed 

 at the end of the snout. The legs are short and strong, and the feet all furnished with five toes. 



