2 BULLETIN 58, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The tiinphibians, or batnicliians, as they are also called, are anam- 

 iiiote, archsecraniate, and stomatophysous vertebrates possessing a 

 well-developed skiUl ])rovided witli a lower jaw and articulating with 

 the vertebral colmnn by means of two occipital condyles; limbs, when 

 not atrophied, consisting of luimerus or femur followed by two projx)- 

 dials (radius and ulna, til)ia and fibula), metapodials (carpals and 

 metacarpals, tarsals and metatarsals'), and digits (phalanges); heart 

 with three chambers; internal nares; respiration, at least during part 

 of life, by means of gills; skin naked. Young, usually after leaving 

 egg, undergoes a metamorphosis. 



The term "Batrachia," usually applied to this class, has to be 

 rejected and ''Amphibia" accepted, since it has been shown that the 

 former name originally applied only to the order of tailless frogs, and 

 that consequently it is a synonym pure and simple of the much older 

 term Salientia." 



The class includes three recent orders, namely, the Csecilians 

 (Apoda), the Salamanders (C'audata), and the Frogs (Salienta). Of 

 these only the two latter orders are represented within our jjresent 

 limits. 



Order CAUDATA. 



1806. Caudcti Dumeril, Zool. Anal., p. 94. 



1811. Caudata Opfel, Ordn. Kept., p. 72. 



1813. Urodeli Fischer, Zoognosia, 3 ed., I, p. 58. 



1820. Gradicntia Merrem, Syst. Amph., p. 166. 



1825. Urodela Latreille, Fam. Nat. Regne Anini., p. 105. 



1828. Cercopi Wagler, Isis, 1828, p. 859. 



1833. Sozura van der Hoeven, Handb. Dierk., II, Pt. 2, p. 304. 



1835. Homomorpha Fitzinger, Ann. Wien. Mus., I, p. 107. 



1838. Urophora Hogg, Mag. Nat. Hist. (n. s.), Ill, p. 270. 



1855. Saurohatrachi van der Hoeven, Handb. Dierk., 2 cd., II, p. 461. 



1857, Delesura Jan, Cenni Mus. Milan., p. 54. 



This order is often called Urodeles or Urodela, and Dumeril (Zoo- 

 logie Analytique, 1806) is quoted as authority. This is a mistake, 

 however, for Dumeril only uses the French term ''Urodeles," add- 

 ing in parentheses the Latin word by which he designates the 

 group, namely, Caudati. From an inspection of page 94 this is plain 

 enough, but to clinch the matter one needs only examine the two 

 indexes at the end of the book, the "Table Fran^aise" containing the 

 word "Urodeles" (p. 330), and the "Table Latine" the Caudati 

 (p. 333). The Latin forms "Urodela" and "Urodeles" have been 

 introduced much later by other authors. 



This order may be divided into three suborders, viz, the Mudpup- 

 pices (Proteida), the Sirens (Meantes), and the true Salamanders 

 CMutabilia), only the latter being found in the territorv here included. 



a See Stejneger, Science (n. s.), XX, Dec. 30, 1904, pp. 924-925. 



