454 



AMPHIBIA ORDER III. APOD A. 



like worms, where they lay large eggs, from which, in due course, are de- 

 veloped tadpoles furnished, at least before birth, with gills. Soon after 

 hatching, the tadpoles take to the water, where they appear to remain until 

 they assume the adult condition. 



All the members of the order are so similar in structure that they are 



included in a single family group. The first genus, IchthyopkiSj includes two 



species, ranging from India to the Malayan Islands ; but 



Family whereas one (I. ghitinosus) is also found in Ceylon, the 



CcecihidcK. second (I. mottochrous) is unknown there. In these species 



overlapping fish-like scales are embedded in the skin, the 



eyes are distinguishable, the lower jaw is furnished with a double series of 



teeth, and the tentacle, which is capable of protrusion, is situated near the 



upper lip between the eye and the nostril. The first-named species grows to a 



length of about fifteen inches, but has a diameter of only half an inch. Writing 



of this species in Ceylon, the late 

 Sir J. Emerson Tennent wrote as 

 follows: "The rocky jungle, 

 bordering the higher cotfee estates, 

 provides a safe retreat for a very 

 singular animal, first introduced 

 to the notice of European natural- 

 ists by Linnaeus, who gave it the 

 name Ccecilia glutinosa, to indi- 

 cate two peculiarities manifest to 

 the ordinary observer, an appar- 

 ent defect of vision, from the eyes 

 being so small, and embedded as 

 to be scarcely distinguishable, and 

 the power of secreting from 

 minute pores in the skin a viscous 

 fluid, resembling that of snails, 

 eels, and some salamanders. Specimens are rare in Europe, owing to the 

 readiness with which it decomposes, breaking down into a flaky mass in the 

 spirits in which it is attempted to preserve it. The creature is about the 

 length and thickness of an ordinary round desk-ruler, a little flattened before 

 and rounded behind. It is brownish, with a pale stripe along either side. 

 The skin is furrowed into 350 circular folds, in which are embedded minute 

 scales. The head is tolerably distinct, with a double row of fine curved teeth 

 for seizing the insects and worms on which it is supposed to feed.'' More 

 recent observations especially those of Dr. Sarasin have largely increased 

 our knowledge of the mode of life of these strange and interesting creatures, 

 which are generally found in soft mud. As already mentioned, rudiments of 

 hind-limbs have been detected in the embryos. The large globular eggs are 

 laid in a burrow near water, and are brooded by the female, who coils her 

 body round the mass. The tadpoles are not hatched until after the loss of their 

 external gills, and when they take to the water they breathe through a pair 

 of gill-openings on the sides of the neck. These tadpoles have a very fish- 

 like head, in which the eyes are much more distinct than in the adult, while 

 they have also a well-defined and highly- com pressed tail, furnished below and 

 above with a fin, after the manner of a frog's tadpole. A nearly-allied Ori- 

 ental genus is Epicrimops, with a single species. From Ichthyophis the 

 genus Urceotyphlus is readily distinguished by the tentacle being situated 



Fig. 17. A C^CILIAN BROODING ITS EGGS 

 (Ichthyophis glutinosus). 



