1826.] [ 177 ] 



PHILOSOPHICAL, CHEMICAL, AND SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANIES. 



ZooLOor. — In our last number we com- 

 municated, from the annals of the Lyceum 

 of Natural History of New York, the dis- 

 covery of sevei-dl new species of Batracian 

 reptiles. Professor Silliman, in liis Ame- 

 rican Journal of Science and Arts, has 

 augmented the number by the following : — 

 1. Rana flaviviridis ; 2. Rana seapularis; 

 3. Rana utricularius ; 4. Rana lialecina; 

 5. Rana melanota ; 6. Hyla crucialis, from a 

 deep crucial groove on the back of the neck. 

 As there is nothing very remarkable in the 

 habits and appearance of these reptiles, to 

 distinguish them from others of their re- 

 spective genera which are better knowTi, 

 we conceive that this enumeration will 

 suffice. 



Snakes. — Double-headed snakes have 

 always been regarded by naturalists as ob- 

 jects of great curiosity, l-'rom the size 

 which these reptiles liave attained, and the 

 agility with wliicli they perform all their 

 functions, they have frequently been con- 

 sidered as a distinct race, and perfect in 

 their kind. The late Count Lacepede, 

 liowever, with the sagacity for which he 

 was so eminently distinguished, decides 

 the whole class of the production to be 

 anomalies. In confirmation of his opinion 

 the following curious circumstances may 

 be adduced: during the year 1823 a fe- 

 male snake, of the species of coluber con- 

 strictor of Linnaeus, Lo Lien of Lacepede, 

 vulgo black snake or runner, was killed 

 about six miles west of the Genesee river 

 (United States), together with her whole 

 brood of young ones, amounting to one 

 hundred and twenty; of these three were 

 monsters : one with two distinct heads, one 

 with a double head and only three eyes, 

 and one with a double skull, furnished with 

 three eyes and a single lower jaw — this last 

 had two bodies. Here is an example of 

 the monstrosity of three individuals be- 

 longing to a litter of serpents, and that mon- 

 strosity conspicuous in the twofold forma- 

 tion of the head. It might hence be in- 

 ferred from analogy, that all serpents of 

 tills irregular constitution are also mon- 

 sters ; but the inference deducible from the 

 following facts may be considered as de- 

 cisive on the subject. A serpent was 

 taken lately on the Black River, near the 

 Lake Ontario, with three heads. A two- 

 headed snake, four inches and three-quar- 

 ters in length, was found on one of the 

 Fejee Islands a few years back : it bad two 

 pairs of jaws, two pairs of eyes, and two 

 complete and separate heads, of the same 

 size, and very symmetrically formed. From 

 the anterior termination of the dorsal ridge 

 the body branched forward into two equal 

 and regular, but short necks, connected by 

 an intervening membrane and continuous 

 skin beneath- Francis. Red! has left a very 



M.M. New Series.-^yoi.. I. No. 2. 



particular account of one caught near Pisai 

 on the bank of the Arno ; it lived, when 

 taken, from January to February, and when 

 life was departing, the right head appeared 

 to die seven hours before the left. Aldro- 

 vandus had one in his cabinet at Bologna ; 

 and there is another in tlie Royal Museum 

 at Paris. George Edwards, in his His- 

 tory of Birds, mentions an English serpent 

 that had been brought to him with two dis- 

 tinct heads ; and describes another speci- 

 men from Barbadoes. Hence it appears 

 that two-lieadcd snakes have been found in 

 the West-Indian and Polynesian Isles, in 

 Great Britain, in Italy, and in the State of 

 New York, from which it may naturally be 

 inferred that they are individuals of dif- 

 ferent species, and, probably, of different 

 genera, as it is not likely that the two- 

 headed snakes of remote situations on the 

 continents, and more distant localities on 

 the islands, were the issue of the North 

 American or New York black snake— a 

 conclusion fatal to the supposition that 

 these singular productions constitute a race 

 of their own, and propagate their species in 

 regular succession. 



American Antiguities.— The remains of 

 the wonderful structuies in the neighbour- 

 liood of the Ohio have attracted, although 

 the ;ura of their foundation has eluded, anti- 

 quarian research. Some articles have re- 

 cently been discovered, and are far from 

 being unworthy of description in this place. 

 One was a perfect vessel, apparently com- 

 posed of pounded shells and clay ; it would 

 hold about two quarts, was handsomely 

 proportioned, nearly the shape of a large 

 cocoa-nut, and had four neat handles, 

 placed near the brim opposite to each 

 other ; it was found in the bank on an is- 

 land in the Ohio river, near Belpre. Arrow- 

 heads of flint, and what, from their size, 

 must have been used for spear heads, of the 

 same material, are found in ploughing the 

 fields, scattered all over the bottom-lands ; 

 stone hatchets, and stone pestles, for pound- 

 ing com, are also common. On the beach 

 near the mouth of the Muskingum, a cu- 

 rious ornament was discovered, which, 

 from the neatness of the workmanship, 

 must have belonged to some distinguished 

 personage among the ancient race of in- 

 habitants ; it is made of white marble, it» 

 form a circle, about three inches in diameter; 

 the outer edge is about one inch in thick- 

 ness, with a narrow rim ; the sides are 

 deeply concave, and in the centre is a hole 

 about half an inch in diameter ; it is beau- 

 tifully finished, and so smooth, as to give 

 rise to a belief that it was once very richly 

 polished. Ancient mounds, some circular, 

 others oval, are frequent all over the county 

 of Washington; some are constructed of 

 stone, and sonic of earth ; others arc coru- 



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