more numerous in Australia than in any other part of the world ; they
lengthened, slender and flexible tongue, whieh 1s constantly kept
‘To supply this secretion,” says Mr. Water.

since this tribe of insects is probably ;
ee procured by means of its eee the ants adhere

, : “ j ap r / y > ants .
lubricated with a viscous see ee is provided with two enormous submaxillary glands, which
house in the work above Lae ee a of the chest. There are no teeth to the jaws, but the palatal
extend from behind the ear to ie : | al rows of strong horny spines, the points oF # hahaa j

‘tion of the mouth is armed with several rows of strong y S| e
porwes © surface of the tongue are numerous small horny warts, between which and the
backwards ; and on the upper surface of the tongue are ae see

Atenas ‘ey of the animal is, no doubt, crushed before passing into the stomach.” Lieut. Breton
palatal spines the prey of t he food as it were swent iene th.”
states that “occasionally the tongue is curved laterally, aul the food as it were swept 1e mouth.

The muzzle is covered with a naked purplish black skin ; the eyes are small and black ; the rather short
and stout body is covered with a thick skin, particularly on the back: where it has to support the strong
spines ; these are of a dirty white colour, more or less broadly tipped with oe k, shar ply pointed, and about
one inch and three-quarters in length; they commence on the back part of the head, and extend Over the
whole upper surface of the body; their points are ee eee on the bal aye so that
they cross each other in the mesial line ; near the root of the tail they form a large tuft, radiating from two
approximating centres, and hide the small nudumnentary ee the head, with the exception aa the hinder
half of the upper surface, and the lower half of the sides of the body, as well as the whole of the under
surface and limbs, are covered with coarse brownish black hairs ; the legs are short and strong; the fore
feet short and broad, and armed with large, solid and nearly straight nails, that of the middle toe being
about an inch in length and a quarter of an inch in width; the shortest, that of the inner toe, is four or
five lines in length; all are rounded at the extr smity; the lined feet are narrower and less powerful than
the others, and have the inner toe very short, apparently slightly opposable, and with a short and broad nail
rounded at the extremity; the toe next the inner one is the longest, and is armed with an enormous claw,
measuring sometimes an inch anda half in leneth ; it is curved and nearly cylindrical, but concave beneath ;
the claws of the other toes are progressively shorter. The hind foot, when in its natural position, rests on
its inner side, and perhaps in a great measure upon the thumb or great toe, by which arrangement the
claws are protected from wear when the animal is walking, and have the concave surface presented outwards;
the use of these claws, it would appear, is to cast away the earth which is loosened by the stronger fore-
feet and claws. Like the Ornithorhynchus, the heel in the male sex is armed with a strong spur, which is
moveable, perforated, and supplied with a gland and muscles capable of ejecting the secretion of the gland
through the canal of the spur. Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard tried, by irritating the animal, to induce it
to inflict a wound upon themselves, in order to ascertain whether this apparatus was poisonous, but were
unsuccessful; and after repeated inquiries could not learn that any accident had ever happened from a
wound of the spur.

The figures are of the natural size.

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