40 
MOXOTREMATA. 
sisted of egg, liver, and meat, chopped very fine. It drank 
mucli water. Its mode of eating, Lieut. Breton observes, 
was very curious, the tongue being used sometimes in the 
same manner as that of the Chameleon, and sometimes it 
reminded one of the mode in which a mower uses his scythe, 
¥ ' 
the tongue being curved laterally, and the food, as it were, 
swept into the mouth. The specimen died suddenly off Cape 
Horn, hut the gentleman just mentioned expressed Iris opi¬ 
nion that the Echidna might be brought alive to England; 
and in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1834, 
p. 23, will he found some hints on the mode of treatment of 
the animal in captivity. 
In the spring of the present year a specimen of the Echidna 
arrived alive in England, and lived for a short time in the 
Zoological Society’s menagerie. This specimen the author 
had notan opportunity of examining, hut lie lias been kindly 
furnished with some notes 1 made hv Professor Owen, who 
visited the Society’s Gardens soon after its arrival, with a view 
to observe its habits. From these notes are the following 
extracts:—The animal was apparently in sound health, and 
active; it was placed in a large shallow box, having a wire- 
work top, and at the bottom a quantity of sand was depo¬ 
sited. In this sand it endeavoured to seek its natural shelter 
by burrowing; but finding it was too shallow, the Echidna 
commenced exploring its cage, thrusting its long slender nose, 
into every fissure, and through the bars, to find some outlet 
through which it might effect its escape; and it was not until 
it had learnt that this was impossible, that it noticed its food, 
which consisted of bread and milk, in which some meal-worms 
were placed. Although it frequently had its nose in contact 
with the meal-worms it did not eat them. The milk was 
1 These notes were communicated to the Zoological Society in the* month 
of July. 
