PKOTRLK& 



PROTEUS. 



(l,ehmann, Pkmuttfieul Oumatrfi Sharpey, in Quain't 

 / Amattmy; Bowman, Mtdieal Ckmutry ; Gregory, 



PROTKLES. [AARD-WOLF.] 



PROTEOSAC'RUa [IcnruroaACBDi.] 



PR< "TEl'S, Laurent?* nun* for one of the goner* of Perenni- 

 branchiate Batraohian*, namely, thoM Batrachian* which preserve their 

 branchiB throughout life, wherea* the Caducibrauchiate Batrachians 

 only poeate* them daring their early or tadpole state. [AMPHIBIA.] 

 Thk i<aiaUuu of the braaohiaj doe not interfere with the pmenoe 

 of true loon, M> that theM Pcrt*il>rm*eAiata may, as Cuvier oUerves, 

 be refiiilsiT M the tola vertebrated animala that are truly amphibious. 

 Cutler caya, "The simultaneous existence and action of branchial 

 tufU and lung* in than animal* can no more be contested than the 

 Met certain facU of natural history ; I hare before me the Jungs of a 

 v i rrn of three feet in length, where the TsscuUr apparatus is as much 

 developed and M complicated as in any reptile : nevertheless this 

 firm bad ite bronchia M complete M the others." [SiRES.l Cuvier 

 farther obeerree that whilst the branchial subsist, the aorta, in coming 

 from the heart, is divided into as many branches on each side as there 

 are branchial. The blood of the branchln returns by the veins, which 

 unite towards the back in a single arterial trunk, as in the fishes; it ia 

 from this trunk, or immediately from the veins which form it, that 

 the greatest part of the arteries which nourish the body, and even 

 those which conduct the blood for respiration in the lung, spring. 

 Hut in the species which lose their branchial naturally, the branches 

 which go there become obliterated, except two which unite in a dorsal 

 artery, and of which each gives off a small branch to the lung. " It 

 is," adds Cuvier, " the circulation of a fish metamorphosed into the 

 circulation of a reptile." 



The Proteiu of Laurenti (Jfypochton of Merrem) has four feet. 

 There are three toes on the anterior feet and two only on the posterior 

 feet The skeleton bears considerable resemblance to that of the 

 Salamanders ; indeed, Cuvier, we believe, has somewhere termed the 

 fossil Salamandra giganlea, the Homo diiuvii tttti* of Scheucbzer, 

 I'rotce Gigantosque [ ANJI-HIBIA] ; but Prvtctu has many more vertebra; 

 than the Salamanders, and lees of 'the rudiments of ribs, and its bony 

 head is entirely different from theirs in ite general conformation. 



But one species of Proteia appears to be known, the Proteiu anyuinui 

 of authors, UypocUan Anguiitut. Cuvier describe* it as more than a 

 foot long, of the sice of a human finger, with a tail vertically com- 

 pressed, and four little legs ; the muzzle elongated and depressed ; both 

 of its jaws furnished with teeth ; the tongue with but little motion, 

 but free in front; the eyes excessively small and hidden by the skin, 

 as in the Rat-Hole (Spaltuc) ; the ears covered by the flesh, as in the 

 .Salamander; ite akin smooth and whitish. 



, 8kll, *c., and ant torn rtrtebr*, of the Fratna. t, Same Men from 

 ton, slfkl time* Urpr thw aster*. (Kiuconi.) 



Several specimen* of these animals have been brought to this 

 country. 



In November, 1837, Dr. Martin Barry exhibited one living, to the 

 Zoological Society of London, and read the following communication 

 from Profeasor Rudolph Wagner, of Erlangen in Havana : 



"I was so fortunate," aays I'rofeseor Wagner, "at the end of last 

 summer, as to obtain three living Pnlei; of which I have examined 

 two, lust killed, that proved to be a male and female, and have given 

 the third, alive, to my friend Dr. Barry, who may perhaps have an 

 opportunity of bringing it forward at a meeting of the Zoological 

 Society. The result* of my examination correspond perfectly with 

 the statement* of Cuvier, R. Owen, J. Muller, and others, on the 

 Prottidta ; but are opposed to several of the views lately put forth by 

 Rtucoai. ('Observations sur l.i Siri-ne,' 1837.) I have, for instance, 



no doubt that the pulmonary sao* or veeicle* really perform the 

 function of lungs. Each lung contain* a large artery and a (till 

 larger vein, which are connected together by means of large and 



' 



Skeleton of froltm, tern from nborc. a, bono of inferior foot, mairolllcd 

 b, bonrt of posterior foot, magnified. (Ilunconi.) 



numerous vessels. To mo the most important point was the examina- 

 tion of tho blood-gobnles and the generative organs. I conjectured, 

 on various grounds, that the Proteidta, would be found to have of all 



