316 
PLATYPUS. 
singular beak was allowed to be naturally attached 
to its head. Dr. Shaw is the only naturalist who 
has hitherto described the platypus in a satisfactory 
manner : and as he had every opportunity he could 
desire of examining the animal, and has drawn up 
the account with his usual accuracy, we shall beg 
leave to avail ourselves of his words : 
“ Of all the mammalia yet known, the platypus 
seems the most extraordinary in its conformation ; 
exhibiting the perfect resemblance of the beak of a 
duck engrafted on the head of a quadruped. So 
accurate is the similitude, that, at first view, it na- 
turally excites the idea of some deceptive prepara- 
tion by artificial means ; the very epidermis, pro- 
portion, serratures, manner of opening, and other 
particulars of the beak of a shoveler, or other broad- 
billed species of duck, presenting themselves to the 
view : nor is it without the most minute and rigid 
examination that we can persuade ourselves of its 
being the real beak or snout of a quadruped. 
“ The body is depressed, and has some resem- 
blance to that of the otter in miniature : it is cover- 
ed with a very thick, soft, and beaver-like fur, and 
is of a moderately dark brown above, and of a sub- 
ferruginous white beneath. The head is flattish, 
and rather small than large ; the mouth or snout, as 
before observed, so exactly resembles that of some 
broad-billed species of duck that it might be mis- 
taken for such : round the base is a flat circular 
membrane, somewhat deeper or wider below than 
above, viz. below near the fifth of an inch, and above 
