11 



chians) ; tlie J'oung do not live in the water, and have quite the external 

 appearance of tlie ohl ones, bnt they are provided with short gills, which 

 do not project from the gill-openings. Gills and gill-openings dis- 

 appear at an early period, and the perfect animal has only one lung 

 developed, the other remaining rudimentary as in most snakes." 



The Coecilians possess a remarkable organ, the so-called " tentacle," 

 which is closely related as regards its position both to the nasal cavity 

 and to the orbit, and concerning which Wiedersheim says {op. cif). 

 " 1'he physiological function of this apparatus, which occurs quite 

 isolated in the animal kingdom, cannot at present be explained with 

 certaint}'. It probably acts as a spouting apparatus, and (if the secre- 

 tions of the glands be poisonous) as a weapon of offence, and thus, 

 together with the remarkably developed olfactory organ, it would serve 

 in some measure to make up for the non-functional, or partly non- 

 functional, eyes and auditory organ. It is improbable that it serves as 

 a " tentacle/' or organ of touch, as was formerly sujiposed, as the 

 necessary nerves and sensory epithelium are not known to be present. '^ 



Table shou-ing the P rope rf ions of the hwn-n Genera and Species of South 



Indian Batrachia us. 



Total 



o8 



