FOUND LINKS. 15 r 



l)egin with, the quadrupeds themselves, as a class, are 

 capable of being divided into two distinct series. Of 

 these, the first, as mentioned in a previous paper, con- 

 tains the kangaroos, wombats, opossums, and their 

 neighbours, along with the Ornithorhynchus, or duck- 

 billed water- mole of Australia, and its near neighbour, 

 the Echidna. These animals form collectively a divi- 

 sion which may be named that of " Lower Mammals," 

 inasmuch as, in respect of many points in their 

 anatomy, they exhibit a decided inferiority to our 

 common quadrupeds, and to the other members of the 

 class. All other quadrupeds may be named " Higher 

 Mammals," since they exhibit among themselves an 

 agreement in structure which places them above 

 the kangaroos and their kith and kin. Tabulating 

 the great class of quadrupeds, we find that the 

 following arrangement gives a brief sketch at once of 

 the characters of the vai-ious "orders," and their 

 chief representatives. 



Order the first is colled the Monotremata. It in- 

 cludes the Ornithorhynchus and Echidna, both 

 denizens of the Australian region. These animals 

 exhibit bird-like characters, as has been shown in 

 a previous paper. They possess " marsupial bones," 

 like the kangaroo races ; and in many respects pre- 

 sent us with a peculiar and special, but still low type 

 of quadrupeds. The second order is that of the 

 Marsupialia. These are the kangaroos, wombats, 

 phalengers, and opossums; the latter alone being 

 found outside the bounds of the Australian province. 



