Document information

Physical location:

Natural History Museum, London, General Library, Owen correspondence, vol. IV, ff. 115-17. 64.09.08

Preferred Citation:

Peter Beveridge to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1864-09-08. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id/64-09-08>, accessed September 11, 2025

Tyntynder
1
Beveridge lived at Tyntyndyer Homestead, near Swan Hill, Vic (K. Orchard (1997)).
8/9/64
My dear Dr
2
It is almost certain that this letter was addressed to Mueller, who reports (M to R. Owen, 25 September 1864) having written to Beveridge to seek further information, and that he encloses a letter.
I am in receipt of your letter of the 5th Inst:
3
Letter not found.
and feel pleased at being able to give the required information.
The Platypus is not an Oviparous animal therefore the Gentleman writing from "Woods Point"
4
Vic. See M to R. Owen, 25 September 1864.
must have been made a fool of by some one, or else he has mistaken a Turtle for an Ornithor[r]hynchus this latter […] takes the cake.
The Platypus brings fourth
5
forth?
her young in the same manner as a cat or dog, the young are born blind and are Suckled for almost two months; after that their dam feeds them on young fish which she catches with great facility. She makes her nest under ground the opening to which is always under water; there are no Platypus in this portion of the river Murray but the Wakool and Edwards Rivers
6
Anabranches of the Murray River in southern NSW.
have plenty of them.
The Porcupine or Great Australian Ant-Eater,
7
i.e. Echidna.
and the Water Rat of the Murray River, also produce their young blind, and suckle them in the same manner as the Platypus; and the whole of these animals belong to the Monotrema[r]ta Genus.
The Fetus of the Kangaroo and other Marsupia, exudes thro' some of the mammillary ducts in a germ like form, till it arrives at the outside of the teat where it becomes firmly attached, and gradually assumes the Shape of its dam.
This latter is of course opposed by the generallity of Savans
8
Savants is written in another hand above this word. For an account of the colonists’ belief that the young of the kangaroo was born through the nipple, or concieved in the pouch, see Moyal (1976), pp 74, 85 (n. 20).
but it is strictly true nevertheless; all my information on these subjects I have from the Aborigines, and they never err in matters pertaining to the animal life in their respective districts, therefore you can place implicit reliance on what I have said herein.
Did you send the cask of spirits as proposed, for preserving the collection of reptiles that I promised to preserve for you this Summer? If you did it has not yet arrived.
9
For M's acquisition of zoological specimens and the use made of them, see Lucas (2013), Lucas (2013a), Lucas (2014).
Trusting that the information herein contained will be of service to you I am
My dear Dr
Yours most Sincerely
Peter Beveridge