^\6 Mr, Gray on the Gen&a of Reptiles » [Sept*. 



MfiNOBRANCHUs, Havlafi. Necturus, Raffumque. 



Legs four; toes 4-4 ; branchia three on each side ; body sub- 

 depressed ; tail compressed ; muzzle truncated, depressed ; two 

 rows of teeth in the upper and one in the lower jaw. 



M. Sayii, nob. Above brown, with irregular black spots, and 

 a black band arising from the nostrils passing through the eye, 

 and dilated on the sides, becoming obsolete at the tail. 



Triton lateralis, Sai/y James, Travels, i. 303 ; and Anatomy, 

 Jour, of Nat. Sci, Phil, iii ; Siren, Barton ; Proteus, Micdiell, 

 Silliman's Journal, ly..; Siren lacertina, Scluieid. H. Amph.i.AS. 

 Le Comtc, 1. c. 57 ; Menobranchus lateralis, Ilarlan Acad. 

 N, S, Phil. iv. ; Necturus maculatus, Rajfinesquc, Ami, Nat.? 

 Icon, Acad, Nat. Sci, Phil. iv. t. xxi. 



Inhabit. Ohio, North America. 



Mr. Say, in his description of this animal, pointed out the 

 necessity of, and the character by, which this arjmal should be 

 distinguished from Triton and Proteus. 



M. tetradactyUis. Two rows of teeth in each jaw, a dupli- 

 cature of skin forming a collar just before the gills. 



Le tetradactyle, Lacepede, Ann. Mas. x. M, tetradactylus, 

 Harlan, 1. c. 



This animal is considered by Mr. Say to be a larva. 



'^'^ Operculum none, Serenina. 



Siren, Lin, 



Legs two, anterior; toes fiye ; branchiae throe on each side, 

 tripinnatiful ; operculum none ; spiracules three ; body long, 

 subcylindricul ; tail compressed ; head rounded ; teeth in the 

 jaws and palate ? 



S. lacertina, Lin. Mura^na Siren, Gmelin, S. N. i. 1136; 

 Mud. Iguana, Ellis, Phil. Trans, t. vi. LSO. Siren, Pennant, 

 Arctic Zool. ii. 335.? Siren, Camper, in Berl. Naturf. viii. 482. 

 Cuv, liumb. Obs. Zool, i. 98. Anat. 



PSEUDOBRANCHUS. 



"Legs two, anterior; toes three; body suboylindrical ; tail 

 compressed ; spiracules three, furnished with a ileshy trilobate 

 covering (branchia), the lobes entire and naked ; teeth none." 



P. striata. Siren striata, Le Conle, Ann. Lyceum Nat, Hist. 

 New York, i. 54, t.4. 



Mr. Le Comte has the idea that neither the Siren nor this 

 animal breathe by the lateral appendages usually called gills, 

 which he thence considers as the covers of the spiracules. 



Fam. IV. AMPHiuMiDiE. 



Branchia none; skull formed of a solid bony substance ; gill 

 flaps open during life j body subcylindrical ; tail compressed ; 

 legs four. 



