ORDER EDENTATA. ^15 



at the upper part of the base with spines at least equal in 

 length to those of the back, and pointing perpendicularly 

 upwards. The snout is long, and tubular, and perfectly 

 resembling, in structure, that of the M. Jubata, or Great 

 Ant-eater, having only a very small rictus, or opening at 

 the tip, from whence is protruded a long lumbriciform 

 tongue, as in the Ant-eater. The nostrils are small, and 

 seated at the extremity of the snout. The eyes are very 

 small and black, with a pale blue iris. The legs are very 

 short, and thick, and are each furnished with five-rounded 

 broad toes ; on the fore-feet are five very long and blunt 

 claws, of a black colour, the two exterior being the shortest; 

 the second toe on the inner side of the hind-feet has much 

 the largest and strongest claw ; the third, fourth, and fifth 

 diminish successively, and the first is the smallest. 



The Echidna has been found principally in Van Dieman's 

 Land, and some of the neighbouring islands ; it lives on 

 insects, which, like the Ant-eater, it secures by means of 

 its long and sticky tongue. It burrows in the earth, and 

 appears, like the Hedgehog, to have the faculty of assum- 

 ing a spherical shape, and thus opposing its spines to any 

 hostile attack. We are, however, as yet but little informed 

 on the subject of the habits of the animal, its gestation, 

 mode of parturition, number of young, fyc. 



The specific characters of the second species, or bristly 

 Echidna, being all that is known of the animal, will be 

 found stated briefly in the Table. 



The form of the paws calculated for digging in the 

 Echidna, and for swimming in the Ornithorynchus ; the 

 spiny covering of the former, which is not found in the 

 latter ; the duck-bill shaped muzzle of the one, and trum- 

 pet-formed tube of the other, and the difference in the size 

 and shape of the tail, are the principal characters which 



