212 TlMEHRI. 
to the Indian's quiver. Other specimens of fish will be 
referred to later.. 
In the case by the window are shewn an old Dutch 
wooden lock, old books, a painting of the Museum-Build- 
ings on china, a Burmese gong and striker of unpretend- 
ing appearance — objects which have once made, and are 
still capable of making, a great noise in the world; a pair 
of handsome inlaid sandals, a murderous pair of slings 
taken from French refugees, specimens of beautifully 
carved cocoa-nuts, and, lastly, portions of submarine 
telegraph cables, cut in cross section to shew the central 
telegraphic wire and the surrounding prote6live wires 
and other insulating material — sections being given to 
shew the size of the cable at the shore ends and in the 
deep-sea parts. 
Next stands a large glass case containing excellent 
specimens of stuffed foreign beasts, all of the class Mam- 
malia or Milk-secreting animals. Unfortunately the types 
are not well-chosen, the numerous specimens, with but 
few exceptions, being different forms of the one order 
Carnivora, while many of the most important orders of 
mammals are not represented by even one type. Here 
the most remarkable is the curious u Water-mole" of the 
Australian colonists, the duck-billed platypus (Ornitho- 
rhynchus paradoxus) of Australia and Tasmania. The 
jaws are produced and flattened to a broad beak, the 
toes are completely webbed and the hind limb is furnished 
with a spur in the male ; while the internal organisation 
recalls many of the features common to Birds and Reptiles. 
These curious animals lay eggs, and these are deposited 
in holes tunnelled in the ground, a nest being made of 
dried leaves and bones. These animals, with one other 
