SYMBBANCHIDJE. 69 



the arches reflected over them. The principal organs of respir- 

 ation are two small bladders, which the animal has the power of 

 filling with air, immediately derived from the atmosphere. They 

 are placed behind the head, one on each side of the neck, above the 

 superior or vertebral extremities of the branchial arches, and are 

 covered over by the common integuments, presenting externally, 

 when distended with air, two protuberances of a round shape. .... 

 They present, when separated from their surrounding attachments 

 and inflated with air, thin, semi-transparent, membranous parietes, 

 resembling the posterior portions of the lungs of serpents. . . . 

 Of the whole volume of blood contained in the branchial artery, 

 one-third passes through the gills and respiratory bladders, whilst 

 the otheV two-thirds are conveyed directly from the heart to the 

 aorta without being exposed to the action of the air." Taylor^ 

 Gleanings in Science, ii, p. 173, and Edinb. Journ. of Sc. v, 1831, 

 p. 33 ; Hyrtl, Denk. Ak. Wiss. Wien, 1858, xiv, p. 39, c. tab. 



70. (1.) Amphipnous cnchia. (Fig. 27.) 



Unibranchapertura cuchia. Ham. Buck. Fish. Ganges, pp. 16, 363. 



pi. 10, fig. 4. 

 Amphipnous cuchia, Day, Fish. India, p. 656, pi. clxvii, fig. 1 (see 



synon.). 



Cuchia, Ooriah and Beng. ; Nga-sheen, Burmese ; Dondoo paum, Tel. 



Length of head (from gill-opening) contained 6 to 8 times m 

 the distance between the snout and the anus ; length of tail 4 to 4| 

 in the entire length. Eyes two to three diameters from end of 

 snout and situated in the anterior one fourth or one fifth of the length 



Fig. 27.- Amphipnous cuchia and its upper teeth. 



of the head, about midway between the end of the snout and the 

 posterior extremity of the jaws ; a valved nostril opens above the 

 orbit ; a second, round and patent, in front of the snout. Upper 

 jaw slightly the longer ; lips fleshy. Teeth a single row of small 

 ones in the premaxillaries, except opposite the symphysis ; a 

 single band of large, curved, compressed and backwardly directed 

 ones on either palatine; and a single row of moderately large 

 ones on either ramus of the mandible. Fitis a rudimentary 

 dorsal commences slightly before a vertical line drawn through 

 the anus. Scales distinct and longitudinally arranged. Gill- 



