672 PROFESSOR OWEN ON THE MARSUPIAL POUCHES, MAMMARY GLANDS, 
and it was inferred that thus it received the lacteal nourishment with the aid of the com- 
pressor muscle of the large mammary gland. 
The principal points in the generation of the Monotremata which remained to be 
determined by actual observation were — 
1st. The manner of copulation. 
2nd. The period of gestation. 
3rd. The nature and succession of the temporary structures developed for the 
support of the foetus during gestation. 
4th. The exact size, condition, and powers of the young at the time of birth. 
5th. The period during which the young requires the lacteal nourishment. 
6th. The age at which the animal attains its full size. 
“ Notes ” of these desired facts, with indications of the times and places most likely to 
supply them, have been sent by me far and wide, through Australia and Tasmania ; and 
after the lapse of thirty years, I have been favoured with materials for making some 
further advance in this interesting physiological problem — a small one, it is true, but 
such as seemed to me worthy of being submitted to the Society as an addition to former 
records on the subject contained in the Philosophical Transactions. 
For these materials I am indebted to my friend the accomplished botanist, Dr. Fer- 
dinand Mueller, F.R.S., of Melbourne, Australia. They consist of a female Echidna 
( Ornithorhynchus Hystrix of Home, Echidna Hystrix of Cuvier, the “Porcupine Ant- 
eater” of the colonists) and her young one, or one of her young, which was observed, 
as the captor supposed, suspended to a nipple when the animal was first secured. After 
five days’ confinement the young was found detached and dead, was put into a bottle of 
spirits, and, with the mother still living, was transmitted from “Colac Forest,” Victoria, 
the place of capture, to Melbourne. Here the female Echidna was examined by 
Dr. Mueller and Dr. Rudall of Melbourne, and was then transmitted to me, together 
with the young animal, and the following “ Notes” of their dissection. 
“ Brief Notes on the Generative Apparatus of the female Echidna. 
“ The animal being excessively difficult to handle it was immersed in cold water, and 
by these means and the additional use of hydrocyanic acid its life was extinguished. A 
longitudinal incision was made from the orifice of the cloaca upwards to the length of 
about 5 inches. Five larger and some smaller ovules were found arranged in a grape- 
like manner, the largest measuring from l 1 " to If' ” [lines] “ in diameter. Fine vessels 
expanded reticularly over the surface of the ovules. We vainly endeavoured to trace an 
opening at the ovarian end of the oviduct. Oviduct about 2" ” [inches] “ long ; its upper 
extremity expanded and attached to the ovarium. As a probable sign of recent functional 
activity, were noted a number of large distended veins lying between the layers of the peri- 
toneum. Numerous oval mesenteric glands were seen. ‘ Meatus urinarius ’ lying in the 
inferior wall of the cloaca about f from the orifice. The ureter terminates in a con- 
spicuous conical protuberance from 3'" to 4'" long. No other exit for the urine from the 
