

AMPHIBIA. 537 



FIFTH FAMILY. Amphiumid& 9 or Menopomida. 



These tailed Batrachians are nearly all found in North Amer- 

 ica. The gills, after a short time, suddenly disappear, leaving 

 orifices upon the neck, and the respiration is performed by the 

 lungs alone. They are not known to undergo any transforma- 

 tions. Among them are included the genus Menopoma, charac- 

 terised by having a robust and flattened body, with the head 

 distinct from the neck, and the skin wrinkled into numerous 

 folds. The tail is broad and much compressed, and the soles of 

 the feet have a marginal fold of skin, qualifying the animal for 

 rapid movement in the water. It rarely leaves that element 

 except at night. These creatures, sometimes twenty or twenty- 

 four inches in length, are extremely voracious, feeding on in- 

 sects, fish, and in some instances, on small mammals. They are 

 of a slate or blackish color. As they bite at a hook, they are 

 sometimes caught by the angler, to his disappointment, and per- 

 haps terror, though, as their teeth are very small, they are not 

 capable of doing him any serious injury. 



The GROUND PUPPY, ALLEGHANY HELL-BENDER, M. Alleglia- 

 niensis, is a species found in the Alleghany river, corning from 

 the Mississippi waters. Its tail is nearly as long as its body. 



The AMPHIUMA has an eel-shaped body, with the head and 

 neck continuous. The limbs are exceedingly minute, and di- 

 vided in one species into two, in another, into three jointless toes. 



The THREE-TOED AMPHIUMA, A. tidactylum, (three-toed,) is 

 found in Alabama and Arkansas. The largest member of the 

 present family Megalobatrachus, (Gr. great batrachian,) is found 

 in Japan. Specimens of it have been seen more than three feet 

 in length, and weighing eighteen pounds or upwards. 



SECOND SUB-ORDER. PERENNIBRANCHIATA. (Lat. perennis, 

 enduring ; branchice, gills.) 



The name of this sub-order is applied to Amphibians, respect- 

 ing some of which diversity of opinion has been entertained, 

 and still exists. Though they acquire lungs, at least rudiment- 

 ary ones, respiration is aquatic by means of gills which are 

 external and persistent, the animals continuing in a perfect 

 tadpole state, by an arrest of development. These singular 

 forms the Chart arranges in one family. 



FAMILY. Proteida, (Gr. ITiowTei}?, Proteus, a proper name.) 



The name which DeKay gives to these reptiles, is Sirenida, 

 (Gr. siren.) More recently they have been included in a sub- 



