18 Proceedbup. 



appearance, budding out, one pair on the fore, tlie other on 

 the hinder part of the body, and these each divide into five 

 fingers at their extremities. Now, just inside the body a pair 

 of Uttle bladder-like organs begin to form behind the breathing- 

 holes — these are the lungs, and as they become larger the 

 gill-tufts become smaller, and the fish-hke heart of two 

 chambers gains an extra one and now consists of two auricles 

 and a ventricle. During all the time these new organs are 

 developing the tail gets less and less, and at last vanishes : 

 the little limbs have grown into long legs, and — the fish has 

 become a Frog. We now see why naturalists class the fishes, 

 and the Amphibia to which the Frog belongs, in one group, 

 the Ichthyopsidfe, or fisli-like animals, for, as we have seen, 

 there is no difference between the fishes and the amphibians in 

 their earlier life. In other Amphibia we see forms which do 

 not throw off all their fish-like characters as thoroughly as the 

 Frogs and Toads, for the Efts retain their tails, and some of 

 the Salamanders keep their gills even when they have acquired 

 lungs. But however interesting these Amphibians — animals 

 which live part of their life in water and part on land — may 

 be, I must pass over any detailed description of them, and may 

 be excused doing this, perhaps, as types of the other groups 

 are not very familiar, being more often heard of than seen, as 

 the Siren, and Axolotl and Proteus of the cave-rivers of 

 Austria. 



I will now consider the great province of Sauropsida, or 

 Reptiles and Birds. These lay eggs with a large yolk, and 

 •when hatched the young being emerges from his shell a perfect 

 little reptile or bird, as the case may be, and goes through no 

 preparatory stage of lower life after coming into the world. 



The first class is that of the Reptiles, and of these I will 

 •start with the Chelonia, or Tortoises and Turtles. I suppose 

 you are all familiar with Tortoise-shell in some shape or form; 

 this horny substance represents the epidermis or, roughly 

 speaking, tlie skin. If you have seen the skeleton of a 

 Tortoise, you will have noticed that underneath this horny 

 shell is a thick, bony structure which really gives the Tortoise- 

 tshell its strength, for tliere are stories extant of their being 



