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Notice regarding a Specimen of Siren lacertina which was pre^ 

 served alive for more than six years at Canonmillsy near 

 Edinburgh. Communicated by Mr Neill. 



In the number of this Journal for April 1 828, (vol. iv. p. 346 

 et seq.), an account was given of the habits of a specimen of 

 Siren lacertina, which had then been kept at Canonmills for 

 more than two years. In the course of that time it had not un- 

 dergone any change, nor shewn any symptom of being a larva 

 or imperfect animal, which some eminent naturalists had sup- 

 posed the siren to be. The reptile continued alive and well till 

 October last, when it had got over the brim of its reservoir, and 

 perished before its escape was observed. 



' It may be proper briefly to recapitulate some parts of the histo- 

 ry of this specimen. It was sent in May 1825, by Dr Henry T. 

 Farmer, from Charleston, South Carohna, where it occurs spa- 

 ringly in rice marshes, to Dr Monro, Professor of Anatomy in 

 the University of Edinburgh. It came in a small barrel, having 

 a perforated lid, and the lower part containing some of the native 

 mud of the reptile, among which it nestled. Having long been 

 in the practice of keeping alive such curious animals as occurred, 

 Dr Monro put the siren under my care, that it might be pre- 

 served in life as long as possible. I may remark that M. Bosc, 

 when in America, having failed to procure a live specimen for 

 the collection at the Jardin des Plantes, we may conclude that 

 Dr Monro''s was the only living example which had ever been 

 seen in Europe. I believe that the animal occurs also in creeks 

 of the Mississippi and Ohio ; for M. Audubon, the celebrated 

 American ornithologist, happening to be at Edinburgh in the 

 spring of 1830, paid me a visit at Canonmills ; and recognised 

 the siren as an old acquaintance, occasionally taken in the trawl- 

 nets, and called by the fishermen water-dog and water-puppy. 



At first I placed the animal in a water-box, containing a quan- 

 tity of hypnum and sphagnum, and set on the trellis of a green- 

 house or conservatory. One evening, in May 1826, the animal 

 made its escape over the edge of the box, and must have fallen 

 nearly three feet. It had on that occasion remained from ten 



