and its Natural Affinities. 369 



the same time designated by the name Abranchus the genus 

 which we now call Cr7jj)tohranchus^. As its name implies, the 

 Menohranchus presents a character afforded also by the Proteus 

 and Siren, viz. that of the persistence of the branchiae. It has, 

 in common with the Proteus, another character which distin- 

 guishes it from the Siren, viz. the possession of four feet. It 

 was on this account that Lacepedc, who, in 1807, published a 

 description, accompanied by an indifferent figure, of a specimen 

 of this species, thought proper to give it the name of Protee 

 tetradactyle, adding, however, that in case it should turn out to 

 be a larva destined to lose the branchise, it might be called 

 Salamandre tetradactyle-\. This creature has four toes on the 

 hind feet, while the Salamanders have five; now, however, we 

 know of some species of Salamanders which also have four toes 

 on all the feet J. 



The origin of the specimen in the Paris Museum was uncer- 

 tain : Lacepede knew only that it had been received from a na- 

 turalist of Bordeaux. However, the notice published by Lace- 

 pede did not give the first description of this doubtful reptile. 

 The learned naturalist J. G. Schneider had most certainly seen 

 a specimen of the same species in the cabinet of Hellwig at 

 Brunswick, which specimen the latter had received from North 

 America (Lake Champlain). As the description given of this 

 by Schneider is both concise and at the same time sufficiently 

 explicit, it will perhaps be worth while to insert it entire, in a 

 note §. 



* Annals of the New York Lyceum, i. p- 233, It had, however, been 

 previously named Necturus by Rafinesque (Blainviile, Journ. de Physique, 

 tom. Ixxxviii. p. 418). Those who would restore the earlier names of 

 genera should consequently adopt this name of Necturus, unless, indeed, 

 they would prefer that of Sirena, Avhich we find applied to the same rep- 

 tile by this very Rafinesque, in 1818 (Amer. Monthly Mag. iv. p. 41). I 

 know this journal only through the citation of Mr. Spencer Baird (Journ. 

 Acad. Nat. Sc. of Philadelphia, 1849, i.). 



t " Sur une espece quadrupede ovipare non encore decrite," Annales du 

 Museum d'Hist. Nat. x. (180/) pp. 230-233, pi. 17. 



X These species form the genera of aquatic Salamanders — Salamandrina, 

 Fitzingcr, and Hemidactylura, Tschudi, or Desmodactylus of Dumeril and 

 Bibron. See the ' Erpetologie generale,' tome ix. pp. 68 & 117-120. 



§ This description dates from 1799, and seems to be the earliest notice 

 we possess relative to the Menohranchus. " Corpus ultra 8 pollices 

 longum et fere poUicem crassum, moUe, spongiosum, multis poris perviura, 

 in utroque latere tribus macularum rotundarum nigrarum seriebus varie- 

 gatum ; cauda compressa et anceps, utrinque maculata, inferiore acie recta, 

 superiore curvata, in finem teretiusculum terrainatur. Caput latum et 

 planum ; oculi parvi ; nares anteriores in margine labii superioris ; maxillae 

 superioris geminsc ut inferioris deutes conici, obtusi, satis longi ; lingua 

 lata, Integra, anterius soluta ; apertura oris patet usque ad oculorum lineam 

 verticalera ; labia piscium labiis similia. Pedes dissiti, quatuor, tetradactyli 



