Liberia ^ 



about eight inches long, and slender. Their skin is marked 

 with a large number of rings or folds which originally corre- 

 sponded with the vertebrx' ; but as the animal grows older 

 the rings increase without correspondence with the seo^ments 

 of the spine. Under the skin, hard, bony scales are formed, 

 which are thought to be vestiges of skin armour so characteristic 

 of the StegoctpJhilij an ancietit division of the Amphibia which 

 existed and became extinct at a most remote period of the 

 earth's history. 



The genera Uraotyphlus and Geotrypetes^ like some other 

 African, Asiatic, and American Coecilians, possess in both jaws 

 a double series of teeth — two parallel rows. The eye is a 

 mere vestige concealed under the skin, and the Coecilians are 

 therefore totally blind. But something like a sense organ 

 exists in the curious tentacles (which can be retracted or 

 protruded at will) growing out just under the eyes, in the 

 front of the face. 



Very litde is known about the life habits of the African 

 Coecilians, which is one reason why I have inflicted a description 

 of these obscure animals on the reader in the hope that 

 Liberians may recognise them and study their ways. One 

 of the Indian species is known to take some trouble about 

 the hatching of its eggs, round which the female coils her- 

 self. In all probability these blind, limbless amphibians are 

 much dreaded by the Liberian Negroes, as they are by the 

 natives of East Africa, from the belief that they are poisonous 

 to handle. The slimy exudations from the skin certainly 

 seem to be of an inflammatory nature. 



The Toads and Frogs ^ of Liberia have been very im- 



1 There is not much scientific importance to be attached to the use of the 

 terms "frog'' or "toad," which do not accord markedly with the natural divisions 

 amongst the tailless Amphibians. 



822 



