52 A new species of Siren. 



Description of a new species of Siren, ivith some observations 

 on animals of a similar nature. By Captain John Le 

 Conte, of the U. S. Army. F. L. S. &c. Read Dec. 1, 

 1823. 



Amongst those animals whose mode of life removes them 

 from our immediate view, it is natural to expect that more 

 discoveries may be made, than amongst those which are more 

 frequently and more openly subjected to our examination. The 

 class of amphibia, or reptiles, on this account, will in every 

 country where nature has not been investigated by her admi- 

 rers, offer more to our study and enterprise than any other. 

 Such of them as inhabit on the surface of the earth are perse- 

 cuted by the hand of prejudice with a severity that soon extir- 

 pates them, and those whose retiring habits lead them to the 

 water as their proper habitation, are either so constantly im- 

 mersed in the fluid that affords them support and protection, 

 or so deeply buried in the earth which it covers, as in a great 

 measure to -elude the researches of even the most skilful natu- 

 ralists. It is not therefore surprising that the animal to which 

 I wish this evening to call the attention of the society, should 

 have hitherto been undescribed. Its small size, its obscure 

 colour, and the place of its residence, have all combined to 

 render it unknown to former naturalists. If genera do exist in 

 nature, we might reasonably calculate that they always consist 

 of more than one species : therefore, in the country that pro- 

 duces the Siren lacertina, it was to be expected that other 

 species might be found. It has been my fortune to determine 

 this to be so, and it will be seen from the remarks which fol- 

 low, that not the least good resulting from this discovery will 

 be the elucidation of facts relative to the history of the Siren 

 lacertina, hitherto so little understood, and the correction of 

 some material errors in its physiology. A proper rank in the 

 chain of organized beings may be given to various animals of a 

 similar habit and nature, if the relation existing between them 



