- 120 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MONOTREMES AND CERATODUS. 
quantity of gelatinous matter which required some special means 
to remove. He was eight days before he got a single egg out 
whole. When he succeeded in getting the early stages, it remained 
to rear them until they were practically identical with the adult 
fish. This was a very difficult task, as the enemies of the ceratodus 
were very numerous. There were two kinds of fungi whic 
attacked theeggs. He put in crustacea to devour the fungus, but 
these in turn attacked the young fish when it emerged from the 
egg e was three months, till near the end of November, 
developing the eggs. The living fish on the table had been hatched 
some weeks ago, but the hind legs were not yet developed. The 
development of the fins would probably yield important know- 
edge on embryology. The egg of the ceratodus underwent a: 
complete segmentation similar to that of the kangaroo. 
He then proceeded to describe the monotremata, namely—the 
ornithorhynchus and echidna. These, though differing from one 
another, were identical in structure, and were in every way similar 
animals. These two living representatives formed something quite 
as unique in its way as the ceratodus. They were both milk-giving, 
development in the platypus, pointing out the large food yolk and 
» had found that invariably the 
female platypus had two eggs, and these left the parent at about 
the age of a chick thirty-six — after the laying of the egg, 
With regard to the echidna, he had not determined the exact 
age at which the young were born. That of the platypus he had 
discovered by a lucky chance. He happened to kill one which 
These were the facts determined by his researches. But 
the research was still in its early stages. Years would 
before the details of the settee could be discovered and 
mterpreted. So far the material had been only roughly examined, 
