576 PROTEID^E ; PROTEUS, SIREN, AXOLOTL, LEPIDOSIREN. 



belongs to this family ; it is about two feet in length, and is 

 described as very voracious. It is interesting as exhibiting the 

 first stage of the incomplete metamorphosis of the respiratory 

 organs, the branchial aperture remaining open in the neck 

 during the whole of life. Remains of a gigantic Salamander, 

 nearly six feet long, have been found near ^ningen. 



514. In the PROTEUXE, or perennibranchiate Batrachia, the 

 gills remain during the whole of life, and the lungs are not 

 developed sufficiently to maintain the respiration by themselves. 

 The body, too, retains much of the Tadpole form and aspect. 

 Of these very curious animals, several distinct genera are known. 

 The Proteus inhabits the underground lakes of the Tyrol, 

 retreating from the light of day, and burying itself in the mud 

 when the waters in which it dwells (as sometimes happens) are 

 dried up. It is very Eel-like in its appearance and movements, 

 but has four short limbs. The Sirens have no hind limbs ; 

 and the anterior pair are short feeble rudiments ; these animals 

 inhabit the marshy grounds of Carolina. The Axolotl (Fig. 19) 

 is common in the Lake of Mexico, and is considered as an article 

 of luxury by the inhabitants of that city. Its general form is 

 very Fish-like ; though its extremities are more developed than 

 those of the preceding. Finally, the curious Lepidosiren (Fig. 20) 

 of which one species (about a foot long) inhabits the upper 

 part of the river Gambia, and another (from two to three feet 

 in length) is a native of the large rivers of South America, 

 approaches the most nearly of any of this group to the 

 class of Fishes ; with which, indeed, it is ranked by some 

 eminent Naturalists. In its respiratory apparatus, it bears the 

 closest correspondence with the Perennibranchiate Batrachia ; 

 but in many other points of its internal structure, it more 

 resembles certain species of the class of Fishes. The African 

 species is said to pass nine months out of the twelve in a 

 state of torpidity ; burying itself in the mud during the dry 

 season, and again reviving when the sources of the river are 

 swollen by the rains. 



BRADBURY AMD FVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFKIARS. 



