The Golden State Scientist. 



3 



TheGolden State Scientist I 



Entered at the post-office as matter of the ! 



second chass. I 



HOW THE PLATYPUS I 

 BREEDS. I 



This question is now satisfactor- j 

 ily settled. The platypus lays eggs, ; 

 and Mr. Caldwell, Natural History I 

 P'^ellow of Caius College, Cam- i 

 bridge, has been credited with the ! 

 honor of the discovery. Mr. Cald- I 

 well, though not responsible to any 

 scientific body in this country, was 

 nevertheless good enough to ap- 

 pear before the members of the j 

 Linnean Society of Sidney, and 

 verify his discovery. He exhibited 1 

 the eggshells, made a statement, 

 and answered all questions put to { 

 him. The eggs were round rather j 

 than oval, the shells hard and of a 1 

 calcareous composition. Mr. Cald- ! 

 well dissected over 6oo female spec- 

 imens before getting one with an 

 egg in it. The female in which 

 the egg was found had la)^ed an 

 egg just shortly before she was 

 caught, and the embryologist, who 

 had suffered so many disappoint- ' 

 ments from a simj'lar cause, feared | 

 that he \\'as to be again doomed to ' 

 disappointment; but such, however, , 

 was not the case, for on dissection \ 

 another egg was found, and then, | 

 and not till then, was this vexed | 

 question decided. It is no exag- 

 geration to say that this is one of 

 the m-^st notable and scientific dis- 

 coveries of the nineteenth century. 

 Students to the philosoph)' of Dar- 



win are quite alive to the import- 

 ance of this discovery, and it has 

 been hailed with delight by Profes- 

 sor Mosely and many other emi- 

 nent scientists. The platypus 

 {Ornithorhyiichus) has bridged the 

 hiatus that hitherto existed be- 

 tween birds and mammals; in 

 other words, the most important of 

 Darwin's "missing links" has been 

 discovered, and the chain of con- 

 nection between reptiles and man 

 is now very nearly complete. 

 Much credit is due Professor Liv- 

 ersidge, of the Sydney University, 

 for the promptitude with which he 

 cabled the discovery to the Royal 

 Society, then sitting at Montreal; 

 and 1 am personally much indebted 

 to that gentleman for kindness in 

 furnishing me with Mr. Caldwell's 

 address and forwarding him my 

 letters. I shall be very thankful to 

 your correspondent, "Platypus," if 

 he will forward me those spirit 

 specimens of platypus eggs to the 

 Australian Museum, Sydney. Dur- 

 ing my absence from Sydney Mr. 

 Ramsey has kindly promised to 

 take charge of all specimens that 

 may arrive for me at the museum. 

 A list rail an Exchange. 



The platypus, commonly known 

 as the duck-bill, is found in Van 

 Diemen's Land and Australia. In 

 its bill-like jaws, its spurs, its mon- 

 otrematous character, its non-pla- 

 centa I development, and its anat- 

 omy, it appears to be a connecting- 

 link between birds and animals. 

 iin. 



