358 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



vegetable garden, in search of lettuces, of which it was very fond. If none were found, it would gnaw 

 the cabbage-stalks without touching the foliage. 



Mr. Bass chased one of these animals, and lifted it off the ground, carrying it for upwards of a 

 mile, without its being discomposed, though it was often shifted from arm to arm. But when he 

 proceeded to secure it by tying its legs, while he left it in order to cut a specimen of a new wood, 

 it became irritated, whizzed, kicked, and scratched with all its might, and snapped off a piece of 

 Mr. Bass's jacket with its powerful teeth. So ruffled was it that all the rest of the way to the boat 

 it continued to kick and struggle, and did not cease till it was exhausted. 



THE ECHIDNA, OR PORCUPINE ANT-EATER. 



THIS animal, called the Hedgehog by the colonists of Sydney, is the only known example of the genus 

 it represents. It has no teeth. The breast-bone is very strong, and the body is stout ; the limbs are 

 extremely short and thick ; the fore paws are compact, and the toes undivided to the claws ; the hind 

 feet, provided with five claws, are directed obliquely backwards ; the head is small, the muzzle elongated 

 into a projecting, narrow, beak-like snout ; the eyes are small ; and there are no external ears. 



The upper surface of the body, and also of the short, stout tail, is covered by a compact mass ol 

 thick, sharp spines, more or less intermingled with coarse hairs. Usually, they are directed backwards, 

 converging obliquely to a central line down the back ; but they are capable of being elevated, and, when 

 attacked, the Echidna rolls itself up, like a hedgehog, directing its spears to all points. The limbs and 

 under surface are covered with brown hairs. 



This creature is found in New South Wales, the islands of Bass's Straits, and in Van Piemen's 

 Land. It burrows with great celerity, and will even work its way under a pretty strong pavement, or 

 the base of a wall, removing the stones with its claws. Its body, during such labours, is stretched or 

 lengthened to an uncommon extent, and presents a contrast to its short, plump aspect, when in a state 

 of repose. Its food consists of- ants and their young, which it secures by a worm-like tongue, that 

 can be protruded to a great distance. Its habits appear to be nocturnal. 



THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS, OR ORNITHORYNCHUS.f 



TUB colonists of New South Wales called this animal the Water-Mole. Its head at once strikes the 

 observer. Instead of a muzzle gradually continued, as is usually the case, it assumes, abruptly, the 

 appearance of a duck's bill, being broad, flat, rounded, and covered with a leathery membrane. The 

 outer surface of the upper mandible is grayish-black ; the palate, flesh-coloured ; the under mandible, 

 paler externally. There are no horny laminae, as in the bill of the duck. Teeth are wanting, but on 

 each side, in either mandible, there are two horny appendages without roots. Large cheek-pouches, 

 placed under the skin of the face, are receptacles for food. At the base of the beak, separating between 

 it and the head, there projects from each mandible a loose leathery flap, supposed to defend the eyes 

 and fur of the head from the mud in which the animal grubs for insects. The tongue is short and thick, 

 and covered with long papilla:. The eyes are small, but very bright. The ears open externally by a 

 simple orifice, which can be unclosed or shut at pleasure. 



The fore feet are largely webbed, and divided into five toes, terminating in strong, blunt, burrowing 

 claws. The hind feet are smaller and less powerful : they are divided into five toes armed with sharp 

 elaws, and webbed the web in each instance being tough and leathery. The body is elongated, low, 

 and depressed. The fur, close and fine, has an under layer of soft, short, waterproof wadding, and an 

 outer one of long, fine, thickly-set, glossy hair. The tail, which is strong, broad, flattened, and of 

 moderate length, is covered above with longer and coarser hairs than those of the body, but its under 

 sin-face is only scantily provided. The average length of the head and body, including the tail, is 

 twenty to twenty-three inches ; the beak about two inches and a half; the tail, four or five inches. 



1 lie burrows of these animals are excavated in the steep banks overhanging the tranquil waters 



* Echidna Histrix, Myrmecophaga aculeata : Shaw. 

 ) Ornithorynchus paradoxus : lihimenbach. Platypus anatinus : Shaw. 



