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Show 1877.] PROF. OWEN ON ORNITHORHYNCHUS. 161 1. Notes on Ornithorhynchus paradoxus. By GEORGE FREDERIC BENNETT, in a Letter from Dr. GEORGE BENNETT, F.L.S., F.Z.S., to Professor OWEN, C.B., F.R.S., &c, with Remarks by the latter. [Received February 12, 1877.] At the conclusion of a paper "On the Ova of the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus," in the ' Philosophical Transactions' for 1834,1 noted " the principal points in the generative economy of this animal which remained for determination " (p. 565). These points were again urged on the attention of observant naturalists in Australia, in the paper " O n the Marsupial Pouches, Mammary Glands, and Foetus of the Echidna hystrix," in the ' Philosophical Transactions' for 1865, p. 682. The letter of December 21st, 1876, with which I have been favoured by m y esteemed friend Dr. George Bennett, and which I have now the pleasure to communicate to the Society, affords good "•round to hope that, through the continuance of the researches of his son (results of which are appended to the letter), some at least of these points will shortly be determined. "Sydney, Dec. 21, 1876. " M Y D E A R O W E N , - I have received from m y son, Mr. G. F. Bennett, at Toowoomba, Queensland, the following notes he has made on the Ornithorhynchus. They give the results of his first attempt at exploring the burrows of these singular animals for the purpose of ascertaining their season of copulation and other important points, such as the manner of copulation, the period of gestation, the nature and succession of the temporary structures developed for the support of the foetus during gestation, the exact size, condition, and powers of the young at the time of their birth, the act of suckling, the period during which the young requires the lacteal nourishment, and the age at which the animal attains its full size. These queries were made by you some years ago ; and I have always responded that no reply could be given to them except by exploring the animals' burrows, by aid of the aborigines, at different seasons of the year. This has now been commenced, and, if steadily followed up, will no doubt result in some interesting discoveries as to the generation of the Monotremata. " I remain, m y dear Owen, " Your sincere old friend, "GEORGE BENNETT, M.D." The notes are as follows :- " ' Having heard that the Platypus was found very plentiful in the Lockyer Creek, which is an eastern water emptying itself into the Bremer river, I started on the 26th of October, 1876, with Mr. A. T. Blakiston, to a selection of his on the Lockyer, near Helidon, to PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1877, No. XI. 11 |