80 AMPHIBIA. 



unknown.) Ribs very short. Sternum wanting. Ears 

 concealed. Impregnation probably internal. 

 Genus. Coscilia. 



I do not offer this arrangement either as wholly original, 

 nor as absolutely natural ; but it appears to me to be less 

 objectionable than the others which have been proposed. 



It is exclusively to the first and second order that the 

 few Amphibia which are indigenous to this country be- 

 long ; and I shall confine my observations on the general 

 characters of the class, and on their physiological peculi- 

 arities, to those points which may be illustrated by a 

 reference to our own native species. The most striking 

 external character by which the whole of these animals 

 are distinguished is the naked skin. Whilst all the true 

 Reptilia are covered by some hard and corneous, or, at 

 least, coriaceous modification of the cuticle, which appears 

 in the form of plates, as in the Crocodiles and Tortoises, 

 and in that of scales, as in the Lizards and Serpents, the 

 Amphibia have no vestige of such a structure ; the skin 

 being in all cases soft and smooth, and in many instances 

 always more or less moist. Some of them, as the Sala- 

 manders and the Toads, have a number of cutaneous 

 glands which secrete a viscid fluid, which is said to be 

 more or less acrid and irritating. This is most conspicu- 

 ous in the common Salamander of Europe, which when 

 irritated will often throw out from these glands a quantity 

 of such white and tenacious fluid. Now the acrid quality 

 of this secretion forms the sole ground for the reputed 

 poisonous character of these animals ; for it is a well ascer- 

 tained truth that not one of them possesses any organ by 

 which poison can possibly be communicated. The cuticle 

 is frequently shed, and in various modes, according to the 



