HARRISON. 135 



It is noteworthy that Dr. Shaw had previously, in 1792, described the Echidna. 

 The learned doctor proceeded somewhat gingerly to his task, having all the time 

 an uneasy impression that he was being deceived. Chinese and Japanese taxi- 

 dermists had become notorious tor the skill with which they constructed non- 

 existent animals tor sale to credulous sailor-men. The most famous of these 

 was the eastern met maid, made of the tore-part of a monkey, and the tail of a 

 fish, an example of which happens to be displayed at the present time in a 

 curiosity shop at the foot of Pitt Street. It is very obvious that Shaw had 

 these monstrosities in mind all through his early dealing's with the Platypus. 



He describes the animal as Platypus anatinus in the 10th Volume of the 

 Naturalist's Miscellany, dated 1799. and gives, in Plates 385 and 386, the first 

 published figures; the former Plate giving a view of the whole animal, and the 

 hitter, three aspects of the ■'bill." and the fore and hind foot. 



There is no need to quote here Shaw's full description, but a couple of para- 

 graphs are interesting, as giving evidence of the state of his mind. 



••Of all the Mammalia yet known it seems the most extraordinary in its 

 conformation; exhibiting the perfect resemblance of the beak of a Duck en- 

 grafted on the head of a quadruped. So accurate is the similitude, that, at first 

 view, it naturally excites the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial 

 means; the very epidermis, proportion, serratures, manner of opening, and other 

 particulars of the beak of a shoveler, or other broad-billed species of duck, pre- 

 senting themselves to the view: nor is it without the most minute and rigid 

 examination that we can persuade ourselves of its being the real beak or snout 

 of a quadruped." 



And again:— "On a subject so extraordinary as the present, a degree of 

 scepticism is not only pardonable, but laudable; and 1 ought perhaps to acknow- 

 ledge that 1 almost doubt the testimony of my own eyes with respect to the 

 structure of this animal's beak; yet must confess that I can perceive no appear- 

 ance of any deceptive preparation; and the edges of the rictus, the insertion, etc., 

 when tried by the test of maceration in water so as to render every part com- 

 pletely moveable, seem perfectly natural ; nor can the most accurate examination 

 of expert anatomists discover any deception in this particular." 



Almost two years later Shaw repeats the description in his General Zoology 

 (1800, Vol. i., pp. 228-232), with the following remarks as preface: — 



"Of this most extraordinary genus (Platypus) the first description appeared 

 in the Naturalist's Miscellany ; but as the individual there described was the only 

 one which had been seen, it was impossible not to entertain some distant doubts 

 as to the genuine nature of the animal, and to surnrise, that, though in appear- 

 ance perfectly natural, there might still have been practised some arts of decep- 

 tion in its structure. I, therefore, hesitated as to admitting it into the present 

 History of Quadrupeds. Two more specimens, however, having been very lately 

 sent over from New Holland, by Governor Hunter, to Sir Joseph Banks, the 

 suspicions before mentioned are now completely dissipated." 



It is clear from this that up to 1800 only three specimens had come under 

 Shaw's notice. Whether we are justified in concluding from the words "as the 

 individual there described was the only one which had been seen" that this in- 

 dividual was identical with that mentioned by Collins, is another matter, but it 

 seems at least probable. Shaw's type came later into the hands of Dr. Latham, 

 who presented it to the British Museum, where it still remains, but I cannot get 

 access to any further facts or details as to its history. Mr. Oldfield Thomas 

 writes me that it is a male, with the spurs cut off close to the base. In a des- 

 cription by Governor Hunter, to which I shall presently come, of the spearing 

 of a Platypus by a native, he mentions that the animal struggled so violently 

 that it had to be confined between two pieces of board while the spear was being 



