345 



Dr. Daniel, who has lived for several years on the Gambia and on 

 Macarthy's Islands, informs me that the Lepidosiren, likę the Mud 

 Eel or true Siren, is only found in the rice-fields, which are for more 

 than half the year under water, and that they are only proeured by 

 the natives towards the end of the dry season, when they are dug 

 out of the nearly-dried mud. They are eaten fried, and likę Eels 

 have a rich oily flavour. 



The habit of living in the mud is common to several Amphibia ; 

 thus the Mud-eel, or Siren lacertina, which has lungs and extemal 

 gills, lives chiefly in mud, being dug out when the ditehes of the 

 rice-fields in Carohna are cleared. The Hell-bender or Mud-devil 

 (Protonopsis horrida) and the Congo Snake (Amphiuma), which 

 have internal gills and lungs and a small lateral gill-opening, live 

 sunk in the mud often to the depth of 2 or 3 feet, especially in winter ; 

 and they and the Siren lacertina will live for some time out of water. 



of 

 tie 



re- 



*«v*^ 



<-i,it4^v^W^ ^•-C^Vv^Vt^^ ^^Ky^^y-- '^^ ar- 



/ -\ sar 



ns, 



jvill 



,ys. 



jf a 



tvvu-puaeu iiziaiu: tuey projecc tnemselves forward on their bony 



arms by the elastic spring of the tail exserted sideways ; their pro- 



gress is nearly as fast as a man will leisurely walk."— Zool. Joum 



iv. 243. ■' 



"The Indians say that these fishes carry water within them for a 

 supply on their journey. There appears to be some truth in this 

 statement, for I have observed that the bodies of the Hassar do not 

 get dry likę those of other fishes when taken out of the water ; and 

 if the moisture be absorbed, or they are wiped dry with a cloth, they 

 have such a power of secretion that they become instantly moist 

 again ; indeed it is scarcely possible to dry the surface while the fish 

 is living." — Loc. cit. 243. 



Dr. Hancock further observes, that a fish which he thinks is Lori- 

 caria pleistotnv.s "is not only furnished with the common appendages 

 for svvimming, but also with four strong bony supporters, one attached 

 to each of the pectoral and belly fins (i. e. constituting the first ray 

 of each), by which the animal creeps on the bottom of the river, and 



