412 



CAPT. W. E. ARMIT ON TACHTaLOSSUS. 



mens were found by mere chance when on "Wallaby shooting- 

 excursions in the granitic hills near Georgetown. Had I chosen 

 systematically to hunt for them, I have no doubt that twenty 

 could have been procured in a fortnight ; for I have seen their 

 tracks and burrows almost everywhere round this township. 



The female is said here to lay one egg, which is placed in the ab- 

 dominal pouch and hatched *. The young thrusts its bill into the 

 curious inverted nipple and expresses the milk. From observing 

 a young male with softish quills, I am of opinion that it leaves 

 the abdominal pouch as soon as the spines begin to cover its back, 

 as these would no doubt wound the skin lining it. The males 

 have only a thick muscular ring, which in the females expands 

 into a large pouch during the breeding-season. The opening is 

 diagonal, and back towards the hind quarters. 



From the fact that I had to use some force to get the young 

 out of the pouch, I think that the inverted nipple is supplied 

 with a muscular ring which is contractile, and by which the animal 

 is enabled to hold the bill firmly in the nipple. 



* [Captain Armit would seem not to be conversant with Prof. Owen's re- 

 searches on the Monotremata, especially his paper " On the Marsupial Pouches, 

 Mammarj' Glands, and Mammary Foetus of the Echidna hystrix," in ' Philos. 

 Trans.' (Roy. Soc), 1865, pp. 671-686, pis. xxxix.-xli. In this both curious 

 and highly interesting information are given, not the least being the conflicting 

 evidence of Australian observers. Whether the Echidna and Ornithorhynchus 

 are brought forth alive or are the product of extruded eggs, is still an unsettled 

 question : the anatomical data point to the former ; those wbo liavehad the live 

 animal in Australia insist on the latter. It behoves, then, that the further at- 

 tention of those with opportunity in the field should be called to the desiderata 

 in the life-history of these animals, as summed up by Prof. Owen, I. c. p. 682, 

 and herewith quoted : — 



" The chief points in the generative economy of the Monotremes which still 

 remain to be determined by actual observation are: — 1. The manner of 

 copulation. 2. The season of copulation. 3. The period of gestation. 4. The 

 nature and succession of the temporary structures for the nourishment and 

 respiration of the foetus prior to birth or' exclusion. 5. The size, condition, and 

 powers of the young at the time of birth or exclusion. 6. The period during 

 which the young requires the lacteal nourishment. 7. The age at which the 

 animal attains its full size." 



Of the Echidna, pregnant females killed between 25th July and 7th August, 

 and of the Ornithorhynchus, between 15th October and 15th November, Prof. 

 Owen suggests, might yield material to explain No. 4 as above. The womb and 

 all connected parts intact should be placed in strong spirit and forwarded to 

 London for examination by competent authorities. Eggs, or supposed eggs, as 

 laid, if promptly put in spirit and transmitted hither, would solve a disputed 

 physiological problem of the highest interest. — Editor,] 



