San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-11-30
The Daily Eight.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 80, 1872.
AUSTRALIANS RLIND NJ ARsUPIAL
An Odd Little beast With a Pouch
1t is Called a Sand Mole.

1T is Called a Sand Mole.
The animal kingdom 10 Australia
says the London Saturday Review. is
q study of potential interest. Tue
fish are wonderful enough, especially
those which seem able TO live without
water. AS for the strange bright
birds on their starry wings, their
number Is inexhaustible. The par.
rakeets alone in the Melbourne mar
ket only ine Saturday are we'll worth
going all the way to see. So are the
birds In the biological Gardens at
Adelaide, where species never likely
TO be brought to this country will be
found. An excellent and extensive
collection OF skins is in the museum.
Here, too, the astonished traveller
sees the ornithorhynchus, with its
pouch and an egg in the pouch. In
the museum or in the gardens the
visitor could spend many days, COM
pairing one by one all the eXtrsordi-
nary forms of pouched animals with
the similar examples of his native
land. There is no pouched COW, but
it can not, geologically speaking, be
long since graminivorous marsupial
of about the same size ranged the
bush. They call itnow Nototheriun;
but big as 1t was another was still
bigger, and must have been like an
elephant in many ways. This was
the magnified wombat, to the skele-
ton of which In the Crom.
we'll road We see appended
the comparatively brief name of
Diprotodent. 1t really seems some
times as If the smslles the anil
mai the longer its name. The Orn
ithorhynchusonati is only . few
inches long. AS to the size of the
latest discovery among the mssupials
we have so far. no information. He
may be as big IS the Diprotodont. or
no larger than the Duck bill; but on
this head DR.. Stirling, who alone has
described him, preserves strict silence
why, no one can tell.
It was reported little time ago In
some OF our newspapers that during
Lord Kintore's )urney across the is-
land the Australians say the continent
from the northern territory, which
belongs to South Australia, to Ade-
laide, q very singular marsupial was
discovered. There was very little
more about it, and q fully detailed
account has been looked for with
interest. That account Is to be found
ia the Transactions OF the Royal
society of South Australia. DR.
SunIng, VINO accompanied the Go
vernon in his long ride, is no doubt
an excellent naturalist, and has
spared no pains in dissecting the
strange animal and coun ting all it,
teeth and bones.
Dr.. Stirling calls it Motorcycles
typhlops, and proposed at fret to call
1t some thing nearly as long again,
but found ne was forestalled, as some
presumably still smaller animal 81
ready bore that appellation. DR.
stirling, having named his beast.
proceeds to tell US how he en-
countered him. 1t seems that he
was first observed by a Mr.. Bishop
al n place almost in the center OF
Australia called Idracowra. Subse
queDtly Another gentleman, Mr.
Benham, forwarded specimen to
Adelaide, where it was received by
the learned with much curiosity.
Finally, DR.. Stirling, in company
with Lord Kintore, passed near Idrs-
cOwra-hOw near we do not know;
but $50 or 900 miles near in Australia
and MIR. Benham brought al
specimen or two to meet him,
and, what is almost as Import
ant, brought also description of one
which lived q measurable time in
captivity, but appears to have died of
fright In thunder storm. Further
more there was an account of one
which burrowed its way underground
with such rapidity ~ TO elude the
most instant and careful search.
Lastly, the native name was acquired
Oor-quamata, aud the fact that the
creature is regarded by the blacks
with superstitious awe.
1t Is we'll known, of course, that be-
sides the marsupials with which we
are best acquainted. such as the kan
garOos and wallables, Australia
boasts of animals which resemble
squirrels-some of them very closely;
OF others which are, both in appear
ance and morals, very ike wolves,
but striped like tigers; of bears, which
have acquired such q character. that
they are locally known as dis.
Other queer forms there be, but the
NOtoryc CITES surpasses them all, for he
IS o marsupial mole. One reason he
has not been discovered sooner is that
during the greater part of his life he
is under ground. And this fact also
accounts for the most extraordinary
feature described by DR.. Stirling. who
mentioned it quite incidentally, and
as is is not the most wondrous feature
among all the wonderful features of
the Australian marsupials. He is alb.
solutely blind. Nature, when she
made the face, forgot to dot the eyes"
Rudimentary eyebslls may ibe
found, as in the Adelsberg Proteus,
by dissection, but they are uncon-
nected with the optic nerve, which
also exists In q rudimentary stage. No
other guadruped is known to possess
this popularity. Otherwise Notory-