108 CORRESPONDENCE. 



The Newts, formerly arranged among the Lizards, which, in 

 their exterior appearance, they so strikingly resemble, have, at 

 length, been found to exhibit the same peculiarities in the economy 

 of the respiratory process, as the various members of the Frog fa- 

 mily : in early age, their respiration is branchial, or performed by 

 gills ; in the adult, pulmonary, or executed by lungs.* They have, 

 consequently, been formed into a distinct genus, under the designa- 

 tion of Triton, and removed from the Saurian Order of the Reptile 

 Class, to the Batrachian of the Amphibia. This presents a striking 

 illustration of the influence of anatomical and physiological know- 

 ledge upon the progress and perfection of zoological arrangements. 

 The Efts, or Newts, it should, however, be observed, do not, like 

 the various species of Ranidce, lose their tail, in the adult state. 



In the next number of The Analyst, I shall present a Systematic 

 Arrangement of the British Fishes ; with a few cursory remarks on 

 the Anatomy, Economy, and Distribution of the Fish-Class. 



P. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To the Editor of "The Analyst/'t 

 Sir, 



I trust that a few cursory and general remarks made by me at 

 "Whitby, in Yorkshire, during the progress of the great solar eclipse 

 on the 15th of May last, may not be uninteresting to your readers. 

 Though I recorded the phases every ten minutes, I had not the re- 

 quisite astronomical instruments to determine the data correctly, 

 nor the means of comparison as to time. Numbers will no doubt 

 supply ample and accurate data on these points. 



It seemed doubtful whether the eclipse would be observed annu- 



• u The young are produced from eggs, laid on aquatic plants, breathe at 

 first by gills, and have two claspers under the throat, by which they can 

 adhere to a leaf. When the feet become perfect, the gills and claspers are 

 absorbed." — Fleming, History of British Animals, vol. i., page 157. 



•f This communication reached us at too late a period for insertion in our 

 last number. — Ed. 



