BATRACFilANS. 77 



The species most known, Menobranchus lateralis, Harl. ; Trilon 

 lateralis. Say; Ann. of the New York Lye. 1, pi. xvi, inhabits the 

 great lakes of North America, attaining, as it is said, the length of 

 two and three feet. It was first obtained from Lake Champlain. 



Proteus, Laurent. — Hypochton, Merr. 



But three toes before and only two behind. 



Hitherto but a single species has been discovered, Proteus ancjui- 

 nus, Laur. pi. IV. f. 3 ; Daud. VIII. xcix. 1 ; Siren anguina, 

 Schn. More than a foot long, about the thickness of a finger, with 

 a vertically compressed tail and four small legs. Its muzzle is elon- 

 gated and depressed; its two jaws furnished with teeth; its tongue 

 but slightly moveable and free before ; its eyes extremely small and 

 hidden by the skin, like those of the Zemni (il/ws typhus. Pall.); 

 the ear covered by the muscles as in the Salamanders, and the skin 

 smooth and whitish. It is only found in some subterraneous streams, 

 by which certain lakes in Carniola communicate with each other. 

 The skeleton resembles that of the Salamander, except that it has 

 many more vertebra, and fewer rudiments of ribs; the bony head, 

 however, differs altogether in its general conformation. 



Finally, there are some which are possessed of fore feet only, the hind 

 ones being entirely deficient. They are 



Siren, Linn. 



The Sirens are elongated animals, almost of the form of eels, with three 

 branchial tufts ; they have no hind feet, nor is there even a vestige of a 

 pelvis. Their head is depressed, the opening of their mouth small, their 

 muzzle obtuse, eye very small and ear concealed; the lower jaw is armed 

 with teeth all round, and there are none in the upper one, but there are 

 several rows of them adhering to two plates fixed under each side of the 

 palate*. 



S. lacertina, L. (The Lizard Siren). Blackish, and attains the 

 length of three feet ; four toes to each foot ; tail compressed into an 

 obtuse fin. It inhabits the marshes of Carolina, the rice swamps 

 particularly, where it lives in the mud, occasionally going on shore 

 or into the water. It feeds on lumbrici, insects, &c.f . There are 

 two much smaller species, 



S. intermedia, Le Conte, Ann. New York Lye, II. Dec. 1826, 



* It is in vain that some authors have recently endeavoured to re\T[ve the antient 

 idea, that the Siren is the tadpole of the Salamander. We possess, specimens of 

 them much larger than any known Salamander, whose bones have acquired their 

 perfect hardness without the smallest vestige of hind feet; their osteology also 

 differs widely from that of the Salamanders; they have more and differently shaped 

 vertebrae (90), and fewer ribs (eight pairs); the conformation of the head, and the 

 connexion of the bones which compose it, are altogether different See Oss. foss. 

 tome v. part ii. 



t Barton denies that it feeds on serpents, and that its voice resembles that of a 

 young duck, as affirmed by Garden. Barton, " Some account of S. Lacert. &c." 



