4ii Mr Taylor on the Respiratory Organs and Air-bladder 



divided with the knife, present open mouths, scarcely large 

 enough to admit the point of a fine bristle : they are sernitrans- 

 parent, and bear a striking resemblance, both in structure 

 and appearance, to the membranous semicircular canals of 

 the internal ear. The small bags to which they lead, are 

 lodged in two cavities of a corresponding size in the substance 

 of the osseous walls of the cranium, in which situation they 

 are entirely concealed from view. Each bag may be describ- 

 ed as consisting of two portions : the first has a horizontal po- 

 sition, and somewhat l-esembles a French bean in figure ; the 

 second is pyriform, is situate above the first portion, and is 

 united to it at nearly a right angle. These bags have very 

 thin septa interposed between them and the ossicula of the in- 

 ternal ear, and differ considerably in texture from the organ 

 in the abdomen ; their external tunic being thin, and of a sil- 

 very appearance, while that of the latter is thick, and of a 

 dark red colour, presenting a smooth internal surface, like 

 that of a serous membrane. 



§ On the Anatomy of the Cuchia. 



The Cuchia, an animal generally regarded as a species of 

 eel, is entirely destitute of fins, and presents, in the structure 

 of its organs of respiration and circulation, some remarkable 

 peculiarities, which would lead us to place it between the class 

 of reptiles and that of fishes. It is common throughout the 

 south-east parts of Bengal, especially in the vicinity of D'haca, 

 where it is generally found lurking in holes and crevices on 

 the muddy banks of marshes and slow-running rivers. Ha- 

 milton, viewing its single external spiracle or branchial aper- 

 ture below the throat as a generic character, has assigned a place 

 to it under the genus Unibranchapertura of Lacepede, (the ge- 

 nus Synbranchns of Bloch,) and has given an accurate descrip- 

 tion of it in his excellent work on the fishes of the Ganges. 

 (See Note B.) 



Organs of Digestion. The alimentary canal is continued 

 in a straight line from the mouth to the anus, and measures 

 about three-fourths of the whole length of the body. The 

 oesophagus is considerably longer than in the eel or fishes in 

 general, and presents internally, longitudinal folds of a white 



