228 Observations on the Genus Salamandra. 



swallowed without comminuting. The intestinal canal is large, 

 and thrown into numerous folds, and terminates finally in an 

 unusually large cloaca. The liver is oblong, and divided into 

 two lobes, between which is situated the gall-bladder, of a 

 large size, whose duct opens into the intestine two inches from 

 the stomach. The spleen is of a reddish yellow colour, and 

 situated in the centre of the mesentery. 



Organs of Respiration. Glottis opens one inch and a half 

 from the extremity of the snout, (it is a mere rima.) Trachea 

 membranous, one inch in length, dividing beneath the clavi- 

 cles to form two lungs, three inches in length. Lungs vesicu- 

 lar, elastic, vascular : in structure resembling those of the 

 Testudo ; they lay posterior to the other viscera. 



Organs of Circulation. The vena cava inferior, traverses 

 the liver, and enlarges previous to emptying into the auricle, 

 which is single, and very large ; this empties immediately into 

 the ventricle, which is also single, and whence a large fleshy 

 artery goes off, as in fish and the larvae of Salamanders, but 

 the distribution of this artery differs from the above-mentioned 

 animals ; after running three tenths of an inch, it forms a 

 sac, which gives off three branches, viz. one to each lung, and 

 a larger one which continues down the spine to nourish the 

 whole body. 



Remaining viscera. The urinary bladder, testicles, and 

 kidneys, resemble very much those organs in the Amphiuma. 



Osteology. Skull composed of a solid piece of bone, arti- 

 culated by two condyles to the atlas. From the head to the 

 pelvis there are nineteen vertebra?, and eighteen ribs on either 

 side, (or rather moveable rudiments of ribs, similar to the 

 other individuals of this family,) the atlas only, as in the Sala- 

 manders, being deprived of this appendage. Having com- 

 pared this part of the osseous structure with the analogous 

 genera, I shall give the result in a tabular form. 



