Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-21
a sCIENTIFIC MARVEL.

"A SCIENTIFIC MARVEL.
A MiIk-Giving Animal That Lays Eggs
After the Manner of a Reptile-Dis-
covered After Twenty Years-The Duck
Bill of Australia and It's Habtts-A
Puzzle to AnatOmists.
''Was there anything particularly new
developed at the late meeting Of the
British scientists at Montreal?'' asked a
Philadelphia Times writer Of naturalist
who has been attending the sessions Of
the American scientists here.
Decidedly there was" replied the
man of science. some of the most re-
marka5le discoveries Of the age was
made public, and one that is likely to
make some decided changes in theories
now held. You have heard of a mares
nest and of hens teeth; both are intended
generally to convey the impression of
something highly improbable, and
curiously enough, science shows them to
be quite the reverse, as birds with teeth
have been found in great numbers In the
deposits of the West, and the recent dis
cOvery announced in Montreal is not
much more astonishing than would be
the statement that a mares nest had
been discovered that contained eggs.
'Why so? Why, simply because a
milk-giving ANIMAL or one belonging TO
the same great class of animals as the
horse, has been found to lay eggs after
the fashion of a reptile. No, il isn't a
fish story; we are on mammals now, and
the facts are that twenty years ago or so
a famous English naturalist named Ben
nett went to Australia to study the fauna
and wrote up the history of the animals
called mOnOtremes very thoroughly.
Here are the animals" and the naturalist
took down two curious creatures from a
stand. ''They constitute the lowest of the
milk-givers. This one. called the Orni-
tFOThynchus, or duck-bill, you see, has a
bill exactly like that of duck, the nos
trils being upon the upper side; actual
teeth are absent, but instead the duck
bill has four horny projections that serve
as teeth; they have no roots or anything
of the kind and are merely parts Of the
bill. The eyes are small and beadlike,
the claws webbed and powerful and, as
you might expect, the creature Is a swim
mer and powerful digger, and from this
habit Bennett had much difficulty in
studying them, but he found that they
lived in the water, much as do our musk
rats, and burrowed into the banks, FORM
ing long, zig-Zag caves that ended perhaps
thirty feet above ii and perfectly high and
dry, and in the end the duck-bill formed
its nest of leaves and twigs.
"Bennett discovered these nests by
punching the ground with sharp sticks,
and found quite number, but in very
| few cases did he discover the young; then
| they were helpless little creatures, about
| two inches long, and it was then sup
| posed that, as in the case of the marsu-
/ pals, the young were rudimentary when
/ born. A few of the natives stated that
| the duck-bill laid eggs, but as Bennett
! could not find any, and it seemed prepos-
| ferrous to think OF, he paid no attention to
! it, and now, nearly twenty years later,
/ it is shown that the natives were. correct,
1 as during the session of the section of
biology Professor MOsely, the eminent
! naturalist of the Challenger Expedition,
its President, received a cablegram from
! Professor Liversedge, of Sydney, Aus
tralia, to the effect that Professor Cald-
| well, who had gone out to study the man.
mails of the country, had made the re-
markable discovery that the duck-bills
and others of the order were egg-layers."
a PUZZLE FOR THE ANTAGONISTS.
"What does this prove?' asked the re-
porter.
"Wen," was the reply, "naturalists
| claim that we must look to the amphi-
bians, as the frogs, etc., for the ancestors
Of the milk-giYing animals, but this
shows that the mammals are closely
! allied to the reptiles. In fact, it's a sort
of a fifteen puzzle for the anatomists to
| work at. The duck-bill has many charac-
teristics that are peculiar to birds, as the
! urinary and genital canals both emptying
/ into the clOaca; they also have keeled
/ sternum, like some birds. The bill is
bird-like. They have a spur that is con-
| nected by a canal to a quasi poison duct,
but Bennett allowed it to lacerate his
| flesh, and no bad effects were noticed. In
I CI-a1a4 ind CT al s,.sl,
| as IN the birds, and in the skull of the
| adult there are no sutures to be seen. In
fact, there are number of peculiarities
| that make the little creature a Yeritable
what is it of science. When he was
| studying them DR.. Bennett kept several
as pets, and the curious little creatures
| were easily dOmesticated and were very
mild and gentle. They were very curious,
amusing themselves by climbing over
chairs and reaching the top Of bookcases
/ by pushing their backs against the wall
! and gradually lifting themselves up.
! They would crawl over his lap, stick their
duck-like bills into his pockets and in a
hundred ways show their sociability.
| Every attempt was made to take them to
! Europe, and a number of specimens were
taken and kept on food that they would
have to eat on the trip and after their
| arrival in London, but it was not sue
| cessful. With tie ant-eating monotreme,
| however, there was little or no trouble,
and one was kept for long time in the
| London Geological Garden.
I'm appearance, as you see, the Echldna
| looks like hedgehog, only it is much lar
| ger than these animals grow. 1t is pro-
/ tected with a complete coat of spines; the
| beak is horny, but instead of being fiat,
as in the duck-bill, it is tubular and hav.
| ing a small opening for the slender tongue
that is thrust out to capture ants.
| Their feet are not webbed, as the animal
! never goes near the water, but they are
| powerful and clawed, and it is said that
| in ten minutes The little creature will dig
! a hole that will completely cover itself
/ from view. They are perfectly harmless
| unless taken up roughly, when the quilts
| become erect and are dangerous weapons.
/ The specimen in the London Geological
| Gardens was usually carried about by its
hind legs. No. These animals have
never been brought to this country alive,
but in the Philadelphia Academy of
Sciences several fine specimens are, l
I believe, exhibited and in the Museum of
Natural History, Central Park, New
York, there is a group of the animals,
! representing them in all sorts of positions,
showing the cave, nest and all complete"