320 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



and the beak more square than in the other ; the spur of 

 the male also is straight and obtuse, while in the red species 

 it is longer and more bent. This spur, according to the 

 observation of M. Blainville on the red species, exists in 

 the male only ; it is situated on the inner side of the me- 

 tatarsus ; it does not belong *to a sixth toe as has been 

 imagined, but is simply attached to the skin ; it has a groove 

 toward the point, and within it, at its base, is a vesicle 

 filled with a particular liquor, which introduced into the 

 wound made by the nail, in the opinion of Blainville, is 

 destined to poison the part. 



As every thing human must partake of the imperfections 

 of humanity, nothing is more easy than to cavil and find 

 fault; and while we admit the difficulty j)f placing the Mo- 

 notremes in some more distinct and insulated situation 

 among the creatures of this earth, without many and 

 weighty objections, we cannot but confess a dissatisfaction 

 at finding them where they are. Indeed, the whole of the 

 New Holland Quadrupeds have, as we have already noticed, 

 very powerful claims to a distinct allocation in artificial 

 systems; the difficulty is, to know where to stop with due 

 regard to the object and utility of zoology as a science. 

 The zoological novelties of America puzzled their first de- 

 scribes, but they almost all soon found their analogies in 

 the creations of the Old World ; we have little analogy to 

 assist us in referring the Australasian animals to genera 

 and divisions previously known. 



The continent of New Holland, for it can hardly be con- 

 sidered as an island, is even less known to us than the long 

 forbidden regions of central Africa ; the novelties in nature 

 presented by the shores only of that immense tract of land 

 afford an earnest of what may be expected from a know- 

 ledge of its interior, — the Marsupiata may be, in all pro- 

 bability will be, increased both in genera and species, and 

 the Monotremes will, by parity of presumption, be found to 



