678 
VERTEBRATA. 
MONOTEEIIATA. 
armed witli powerful claws, but destitute of swimmiug menibranes. The body is short and thick, 
the tail is reduced to a very small size, and the skin is clothed with bristly hairs, intermixed on 
the upper surface with numerous short, acute spines, very similar to those of the hedgehog. The 
structure of the mammary glands of the female, and the spurs on the hind-legs of the male, 
are such as we hare described as characteristic of the order. 
The Porcupine Ant-Eater, E. hystvix^ measures from fifteen to eighteen inches in length, 
and is found generally in hilly countries, where it lives in burrows and feeds upon insects, priuci- 
pally ants and termites, which it captures by the protrusion of its long sticky tongue. It is a 
slow, dull, nocturnal animal, but exhibits a wonderful activity in digging, for which its powerful 
claws are admirably adapted. When surprised, it either makes its escape by burrowing into the 
earth, or rolls itself up in the manner of a hedgehog so as to present its spiny covering to the 
enemy. It is found in New South Wales. The JE. setosa, the only other known species, resem- 
bles the preceding, and is considered by some naturalists as merely an old variety of it; it is 
found in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. 
Gemis ORNITHORHYNCHUS : Ornithorhynchus.—Oi this there is but a single species, the 
DuoK-BiLLED Platypits, Mallangong, Tambreet, ov Mouflengong, 0, paradoxus, ^hich seems 
to cap the climax of eccentricity in the zoology of Australia. Its jaws resemble a flattened duck's 
bill, opening freely to a considerable extent, and covered with a thick skin. Near the base the 
jaws arc furnished on each side with a sort of horny tooth, which, however, is quite destitute of 
a root. The tongue is divided into two parts, of which the hinder is broad and flat, covered with 
soft papillas, while the anterior portion is narrow and covered with upright points, which become 
longer and sharper toward its tip. The nostrils are placed at the apex of the upper mandible. 
The body is about fifteen inches long ; the skin is covered with a short brown fur, which extends 
also upon the short, flattened tail. The legs are short, each being furnished with five toes, which 
are united by a membrane ; this, on the anterior feet, projects in a semicircular form beyond the 
extremities of the claws. The spurs on the hind-legs of the male are of considerable size, but 
they seem never to be used in self-defense. 
This extraordinary animal, which was supposed by its first describer, Dr. Shaw, to be a manu- 
factured monster, is found in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, where it inhabits ponds 
and the quiet parts of streams. In these places it swims about on the surface of the water, with 
