MAMMALIA- BRUTA. Platypus- 31 
rather fmall than large : the mouth or fnout, as before obfervecl, 
fo exattly relembles that of fome broad-billed fpecies of duck 
that it might be miftaken for fuch : round the bife is a flat, 
circular membrane, fomewhat deeper or wider below than 
above ; viz. below near the fifth of an ineli, and above about 
an eighth. The tail is flat, furry like the btxly, rather fliort* 
and obtule, with an almoft bifid tennination : it is-bnoder at 
the bafe, and gradually lelTens to the tip, and is about three 
inches in length : its colour is fimilar to that of the body. 
The length of the whole animal from the tip of tiie beak to 
that of the tail is thirteen inches : of the beak an inch and 
iialf. The kgs are very fliort, terminating in a broad web, 
which on the fore-feet extends to a confiderable diflance be- 
yond the claws ; but on the hind-feet reaches no farther than 
the roots of the claws. On the fore-Ject are five claws, ftnrit, 
ftrong, and fharp-poinled : the two exterior ones fomewhat 
fhottcr than the three middle ones. On the hiiid-feet are fix 
claws, longer and more inclining to a curved fonn than thole 
of the fore-feet : the exterior toe and claw are confidetably 
fhorter than the four middle ones : tlic interior or fixth is 
feated much higher up than the reft, and relembles a ftrong, 
fliarp Ipur, All the kgs arc hairy above : the fore-feet are ■ 
naked both above and below, but the hind-feet are hairy 
above, and naked below. The. internal edges of the under 
mandible, (which is narrower than the upper) are ferratedor 
channelled with numerous ftrix, as in a duck’s bill. The 
7ioJirils are fmall and round, and are filuated about a quarter 
of an inch from the tip of the bill, and are about the eighth of 
an inch diftant from each other. There is no appearance of 
teeth: tlie palate is removed, but feems to have refemblcd 
that of a duck: the tongue alfo is wanting in the fpecimen. 
The cars or auditory foramina are placed about half an inch 
beyond the eyes : they appear like a pair of oval holes of Uic 
eighth of an inch in diameter ; there being no external car. 
On the upper part of the head, on each fide, a little beyond 
the beak, are fituated two fmalliili, oval, wliite fpots ; in the 
lower part of each of which arc imbedded the eyes, or at leaft 
the parts allotted to the animal for fome kind of vifion; for 
from the thicknefs of the fur and the fmallnefs of the organs 
they leem to have been but obfeurely calculated for diftinft 
vifion, and are probably like thofe of Moles, and fome other 
animals of that tribe ; or perhaps even fubcutaneous ; the 
whole apparent diameter of the cavity in which they were 
placed uot e.xceedlng the tenth of an inch. 
“ When we confider the general form of this animal, and par- 
ticularly its bill and webbed feet, we flrall readily perceive 
that it muft be a refident in watery fituations ; that it has the 
habits of digging or burrowing in the banks of rivers, or under 
ground ; 
