182 Supplement to the Zoology. 
ration is not a larva or tadpole, but that he performs the 
functions of a perfect animal. 
e has three rows of external sills (as a French say 
ch forthe: de houppes,) on each si They are situated on 
the posterior sige of flesh se or asee den and 
resemble fringe of the nicest texture. Between these gills 
are two slits or passages, rie which water can pass, as 
in the case of cartilaginous fis 
The tail is Comereniee Sgrarally: and is broad and strong. 
There are four slender legs; the anterior and posterior 
which have each feat fingers distinctly articulated, without 
nails or claws. They resemble little hands, destitute of 
thumbs. The fore-legs are connected with the body, a 
short distance behind the gills, and the hind-legs about an 
equal space before the anus. 
ere are two eyes covered by the common skin, sith 
out either openings or lids. ‘They seem adapted to his way 
of life, arequinne i in the deep: bottoms: where he lives, but a 
few rays 0 of light. leer 
- There are two nostrils near the extremity o ens snout, 
: is P ey 4 fe 
‘teeth are Sie arraneed aloe rows in the upp rj 
one row in the lower jaw. In both they are small, 
élase- 
set, and pointed ; but there are neither laniaries nor grind 
ers. 
~The skin is smooth, and si siess. It is dark brown, in- 
terspersed with spots of a yet darker colour, over the. sides 
and belly. There is a groove of depression along the mid- 
dle of the back. 
The head is broad and rae The snout blunt. The 
po staeee thn has like the Labru 
has but one ein and one poasttye and 
blood “ce proceed from the former directly to the "gills. 
The intestines had been removed ; so that it was impos- 
sible to trace satisfactorily the other parts of the internal 
structare. A whimsical opinion prevails that this reptile 1s 
very poisonous. He is shuaned and abhorred accordingly: 
Measures have nevertheless been taken, to am gio ae 
and larger individuals, which, it is ex expected, w enable a 
series of complete dissections to be made. 
To throw light upon this inquiry, we have in our ce aaliee- 
tion, us anguinus of Carniola, with a es by 
the learned Schreibers of Vienna. 
