m 



AMPJIIIUA. 



AMPHIBIA. 



171 



The upper bead of the femur is ovl ; at the internal facw 

 J th neck, there a a very pointed apophyaia, occupying the place of 

 troehanter : the lower head ia widened and flattened from before 

 backward*. There are two bonea in the leg. The tibia, which ia very 

 tout upward*, haa in front a ridge, which detachea itaelf from the 

 upper part of the bone in the form of a alender stem, reaembling the 

 veatige of a fibula discernible in various Rodent*, but this does not 

 prevent the development of a true fibula aa Urge aa the tibia, and 

 which descend* a little luwcr. There are 9 taraal bonea, all flat and 

 disposed in a pavement-like order: the lower rank haa 5 for the 

 five metataraal bonea ; the four others consist of one email (the tibial) 

 at the internal border, one great (the fibular) at the external border, 

 an oblong one between them, placed obliquely and answering to the 

 tibia and fibula, and one square in the middle of all the other*. 

 Cuvier found but one phalanx on the first finger, two on the second, 

 three on the third and fourth, and two on the last. 



Reprudttetio* of Parti. The power of reproducing excised or 

 injured parts has been observed in no family among the reptiles 

 more carefully than in the Tailed Amphibia. Platen-Hi, Spallonzoni, 

 Murray, and others have recorded their observations with respect to 

 this power; and Bonnet particularly has given most accurate descrip- 

 tions and figures of his careful experiments. The arms or thighs of 

 Tritons amputated sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other, or 

 both on the same side, were constantly reproduced, and the toes were 

 again gradually formed and endowed with motion. The tail, too, cut 

 off at various points, was renewed, pushing out by little and little from 

 the amputated base. In one case the same limb was reproduced four 

 times consecutively in the same animal. Bonnet found that this 

 reproduction was favoured by heat and retarded by cold. He 

 observed that the parts of excised limbs were often reproduced 

 with remarkable alterations, either of defect or excess; the deficiency 

 or exuberance of certain parts taking upon themselves very singular 

 forms. In many species of Tritons the long bones of the limbs 

 detached from their principal articulation, and remaining suspended 

 by some points which still caused them to adhere to the flesh, were 

 found completely consolidated in a few days. The most extraor- 

 dinary observation was that consequent on the total extirpation of the 

 eye, which was entirely reproduced and perfectly organised at the end 

 of a year. Dufay has recorded their faculty of remaining frozen up 

 in ice for a long period without perishing. 



Their tenacity of life was strongly shown in an experiment made by 

 M. Dumcnl. Three-fourths of the head of a Triton marmoratui was 

 removed with a pair of scissors. The mutilated animal wax placed by 

 itaelf at the bottom of a large glass vessel in fresh water about half an 

 inch deep, and which was carefully renewed at least once a-day. The 

 animal, although deprived of the four principal senses, without nostrils, 

 without eyes and ears, and without a tongue, continued to live and move 

 slowly. Its only communication with externals was carried on by touch 

 alone. M. Dume'ril relates that it was evidently conscious of existence, 

 and walked slowly and cautiously. It raised the stump of its neck 

 towards the surface of the water, and during the first days was seen 

 making efforts to breathe. In less than three months reproduction 

 and cicatrisation had so done their work that there remained no 

 aperture for the lungs, or for food. At the end of three months, M. 

 Dume'ril was compelled to leave it to the care of another during an 

 absence, and it died, in all probability, as he observes, from want of 

 attention on the part of the person who undertook the care of it. 

 This specimen is now preserved in the Paris Museum, and exhibits, as 

 M. Jtmncril remarks, the singular fact of an animal having lived without 

 a head : and a proof of the possibility and necessity, even in the Batra- 

 chiaiiK, of a sort of respiration by means of the skin. In this animal 

 M. Dume'ril states that respiration was certainly thus carried on for 

 three months, although the stump of the amputated part presented a 

 cicatrice, the smooth surface of which proved, even when examined 



by a magnifying gloss, that 

 there was a complete obtura- 

 tion of the oesophagus and 

 larynx. 



Dr. Von Siebold has also 

 recorded his observations on 

 the reproduction of wonndi-d 

 or lost parts in the Triton nigcr. 

 The following are some of 

 the more remarkable 

 belonging to the Tailed Am- 

 pkilia : 



I'rotonopti*. 



Head flat, broad; two con- 

 centric rows of teeth (the inner 

 row palatine) in the upper jaw, 

 and a single row only in the 

 Inwi-r jaw; tongue free in 

 front ; operculum situated 

 about half way }>ctwcen the 

 posterior edge of the rictus of 

 the mouth and the fore-leg ; 

 three opercular cartilages, between the posterior, two of which form 

 the aperture; feet fiiubruiUxl on their outer edge; toes four ou the 



Ilcad of frotonajuu, M*n from above. 



anterior feet, and five on the posterior; of the latter the fourth and 

 fifth are webbed and without claws. 



Thia is the Abrmrkiu and ileaopoma of Marlon ; Protottoptit of 

 Barton ; Cryptobrmcktu of Leukardt and Kitzinger ; Saiatnandrop* of 

 Wagler. 



There are two apeclea known, the Protonopns korrida and P. ftuca. 

 The first species ia well known. Its length ia about two feet ; head 

 broad and flattened; mouth wide; nostrils projecting; body thick 

 and stout ; tail compressed vertically, and nearly as long aa the body ; 

 legs stout and short; colour slaty with dark spots on the body; a 

 dark line runs through the eyes. 



Thia ia the lleUbender, V ml Devil, Ground Puppy, and Young A ttiyalur 

 of the Anglo-Americans ; and Pitck-Salamander of the Germans. 



It inhabits the Ohio and Alleghany riven. 



This Batrachian is carnivorous and very voracious ; nothing that it 

 can devour is spared by it The fishermen dread it very much, and 

 believe it to be poisonous. Indeed the appearance of the animal is 

 altogether uncouth and forbidding. 



Michaux appears to have been the first traveller who discovered 

 and noticed the Protonopti*. He states that in the torrents of the 

 Alleghanies is found a species of Salamander, called by the inhabitants 

 ' Alligator of the Mountains,' and that there arc some which are two 

 feet in length. 



There is a well-preserved skeleton of Protonojmt horrida in the 

 museum of the lioyal College of Surgeons in London. 



ProloHopta JLltcghanina'u. 

 a, Mouth open, showing the arrangement of the teeth. 



SitMdin. 



Head large, trigono-ovate ; rostrum produced, vertex convex ; 

 forehead concave; nostrils, in the anterior margin of the maxilla, 

 approximate ; eyes very small, hardly distinguishable ; no pur 

 tongue not distinct ; palatine teeth numerous ; a crest on the anterior 

 margin of the valuers; posterior feet with cutaneous appendages ; toes 

 small, free, with depressed cutaneous lateral lobes; tail rather round 

 at the base, very much depressed in the middle and behind, head 

 thickly covered with glands ; body depressed, with transverse folds 

 and a long thick cutaneous appendage on each side. 



Figures of the skull, showing the teeth, of the skeleton of tin 

 hand, and of some of the vertebra?, are given on the preceding page. 



This is the genus Meyalobairachiw of Tschudi ; but the Prince of 

 Canino's name, Sicbolttia, has the right of priority. The genua belongs 

 to the sub-family .1 nili-iiiiliini of 1 1 idte. 



SieMdia maxima is the Salaam H t of Schlegel ('Fauna 



Japon.,' vii., tab. vi., vii., viii.), and was found by Dr. Von SiehoM in 

 alake on a basaltic Mountain in .lapan. Ho brought away a mole and 

 afemale; but the former devoured the latter durini; tin- passage. The 

 gill-aperture slit always remain* open in ProtoitojMiu, but in this groat 

 newt the slits are closed. This animal is the nearest living analogue of 

 Andriat Sekenchzeri, the celebrated llomu Dilurii Teetit of SchouchztT. 



Triton. 



Head rounded, convex; vertex somewhat flattened; tongue small, 

 semi-globular, slightly free at each side, free and pointed behind ; 

 palatine teeth numerous, disposed in two rows; l>ody granulou.-*; 

 no parotids; tail compressed, as long as the body; glandular JKHIM 

 behind and over the eyes, and a longitudinal row of di.-tant and 

 similar pores along each side. Toes four on the anterior anil liv.: mi 

 feet Crests of the back and tail (in the male) separate. 



Example, Triton crintatui. 



The colour is blackish, orange-coloured l>oncath, sprinkled with 

 round black spots; sides dotted with white; upper lip me ; 1> 

 tin' lower, but not having a distinct lobe. ; body warty or tubercu- 

 lated; tail rather smooth, compressed, sharp, trenchant abov 

 below. Length six inches, 



Mate (in the spring) with an acuto toothed dorsal crest ; tail with 



* Afterward* changed to Itampoma by Dr. Hurlan, Abranchta having been 

 lire-occupied by Van llaascU to designate a genus of moUuaki. 



