DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS. g3i 
inch distant from each other. There is no ap- 
pearance of teeth: the palate is removed, but 
seems to have resembled that of a duck: tihe 
tongue also is wanting in the specimen. The ears 
or auditory foramina are placed about au inch be- 
yond the eyes : they appear hke a pair of oval 
holes of the eighth of an inch in diameter; there 
being no external ear. On the upper part of the 
head, on each side, a httle beyond the beak, are 
situated two smallish oval white spots; in the lowex' 
part of each of Avhich are imbedded the eyes, or 
at least the parts allotted to the animal for some 
kind of vision; for from the thickness of the fur 
and the smallness of the organs they seem to have 
been but obscurely calculated for distinct vision^ 
and are probably like those of Moles, and some 
other animals of that tribe ; or perhaps even sub- 
cutaneous; the whole apparent diameter of the ca- 
vity in which they were placed not exceeding the 
tenth of an inch. 
When we consider the o-eneral form of this ani- 
mab and particularly its bill and webbed feet, we 
shall readily perceive that it must be a resident in 
watery situations; that it has the habits of digging 
or burrowing in the banks of rivers, or under 
ground ; and that its food consists of aquatic plants 
and animals. This is all that can at present be 
reasonably guessed at : future observations, made 
in its native regions, will, it is hoped, afford us 
more ample information, and will make us fully 
acquainted with the natural history of an animal 
which differs so widely from all other quadrupeds. 
