Barnes on the Genus Chiton. 69 
ceum. The notes and sketches we made, are re- 
served for a future publication, after the arrival of other 
specimens which measures have been taken to procure. 
. Such is my present view of the manner in which these 
several reptiles ought to be disposed in zoology :_ observin 
at the same time that if they or any of them should hereaf- 
ter be discovered to be gyrini, larve, or immature or im- 
perfect beings, they must be referred to the genus of Sala- 
mander, and not to the Tritons any further than this word 
signifies the Salamander with a flat tail in the state of Larva. 
n this attempt to disentangle an intricate subject, I have 
had the anatomical description of the Larve of aquatic Sala- 
manders by Dr. Mauro Ruconi, in his letter to Sign. Broc- 
chi, constantly before me ; as also the monography, by the 
same able observer and his friend, Professor Configliacchi 
of Pavia, of the Proteus anguinus : together with their ele- 
gant illustrations by coloured figures. = 
MIG.» of TSigiiie. east. tists deigy flock. 
- th eee pare 
Art. I[X.—Description of five species of Chiton, by D. W. 
Baryes, M. A. Member of the New-York Lyceum of 
Natural History. 
The rapid advancement of Natural History, in our coun- 
try, during the last ten years, has been owing, i 
considerable degree, to the zeal and liberality of gentlemen 
attached to the Publick Service. Many of the officers, both 
ofthe Army and the Navy, delight to gratify their friends 
at home, by transmitting the products of their researches 
abroad. Hence it results that specimens are aggregated, on 
the spot, in greater abundance than they could be, ‘by the 
most laborious journeys and extensive voyages, of any in- 
dividual. Ore 
Among the praiseworthy contributors, to the stock of our 
knowledge, in Natural History, we mention, with pleasure, 
Captain C. G. Ridgely of the U. S. Navy, who, 
on his late return from the Pacifick Ocean in the Constel- 
lation, brought as usual, his offering to science ; consist- 
ing of a number of small marine animals, found attached to 
the rocks, and collected by himself, on the coast of upper 
Peru. The specimens, preserved in spirits, were preser- 
