170 COMPARISONS OF STRUCTURE IN ANIMALS. 



believing in the God of heaven and earth, 

 never rises from the creature to the Creator 

 with feeUngs of awe and adoration. 



Wonderful as is the transformation of an 

 animal in a fish-like condition to a different 

 grade of existence, stiU more so is the fact 

 that some of the amphibia never lose the 

 characteristics of fish, and yet, at the same 

 time', acquire lungs adapted for atmospheric 

 respiration. They are reaUy amphibious, and 

 though, as a rule, they live in water, still some 

 inhabit swamps, and occasionally visit the dry 

 land, in quest of worms and insects. 



Among these remarkable creatures is the 

 proteus, a dweller in the subterraneous waters 

 of the cavern at Adelsburg, where no ray of 

 dayUght ever penetrsttes; the axolote of the 

 lake of Mexico, and the siren of the morasses 

 and swamps of Carolina. These animals have 

 free branchial fringes, or gills, and also delicate 

 lungs. Their skeleton is very simple, and their 

 movements in the water are similar to those of 

 fishes ; the proteus, indeed, much resembles a 

 slender eel ; the limbs being so small, that, at a 

 first glance, they may be readily overlooked.* 



* For an account of these amphibia, see Popular History of 

 Reptiles : Religious Tract Society. 



