Barnes on Ratracian Animals and doubtful Reptils. 291 
Yense to any one, provided that the tone is mild and the lan- 
guage courteous. ave, however, been struck with some 
surprize that the two gentlemen who so very particularly un- 
dertook to dissect the Triton Lateralis, and publish an ac- 
count of its Osteology, should so very carefully abstain from 
all mention of the scud/ ; and that one of the same gentlemen, 
republishing the same animal, with a new name, should make 
the same very important omission. — Is not the scull an organ 
ef equal importance with the false ribs? And is there nota 
striking resemblance between the sculls of the American and 
the Austrian animal? I fear that some things, said and re- 
peated in the ‘* Annals of the Lyceum,” concerning the scull 
of the Proteus, were not the deductions of a rigid examina- 
tion. When I began this paper, I attempted to arrange these 
animals according to the method suggested by Captain Le 
Conte, and repeated by Dr. Harlan, thatis, by those that 
have solid sculls, and those that have sculls composed of many 
pieces. However, after a fall conversation with the gentle- 
man who made the suggestion, and after dissecting several | 
specimens, and examining the published accounts, I was com- 
pelled to admit the conclusion that there is not in that sugges- 
tion a sufficient degree of truth and fidelity to nature to admit 
of its adoption. Tam not sure that I understand the gentle- 
men in what they say of solid sculls. Thave sought informa- 
hen the } 
Mitchil] had called a Proteus was not a Proteus? Either 
these sculls are similar, or they are not. If they are similar, 
i e same genus, if not, they still may 
bly similar, otherwise they would have formed a more plausi- 
ble topic than the false ribs, and the dorsal vertebers, 
7 , 
3. Proreus Tetrapactyus. Lacepede’s Proteus. 
Toes, four before and four behind. 
‘Teeth, two rows above and two below. 
Length 6.4 (French) inches. Length of the head, from 
the tip of the nose to the end of the gills, 1.1 inch. Tail 2.4. 
Legs, each being of the same length, .55. 
Fi Annals of the Museum, vol. x. p. 230. 
