108 



CLASS-REPTILIA. 



ORDER B ATRACHIA. 



of the alleged power of protracted existence peculiar to this animal, though 

 deprived of food and air, is " that they cannot live a year excluded totally 

 from atmospheric air; and from experiments made, by enclosing these 

 animals in cells cut out in oolite, that they cannot, in all probability, survive 

 two years, entirely excluded from food." 



PIPA. Three species of this curious genus have been described; that 

 represented on Plate 7 being the principal. 



The head of the Surinam Toad (P. Surinamensis), the Rana Pipa of 

 Liniid.-us, is distinctly separated from the neck, the loose skin of which 

 forms a kind of collar ; the head is of a dingy chestnut colour ; the body 

 wide, of a paler colour, and the back covered with granules, three longi- 

 tudinal rows of which are rather larger than the others, and which Seba 

 compares to pearls. In this species, Schneider has described the larynx as 

 bony and of enormous size, resembling in shape a triangular box, within 

 which are contained a pair of moveable bones, capable of closing the air 

 passages. It is found in Guiana, where, like the Common Toad of Europe, 

 it lives in dark, retired places, or on the banks of fresh water. The female 

 is there called pipa, and the male jprjpoZ. It is a very remarkable animal, on 

 account of the young undergoing their Tadpole changes on the back of the 

 mother, where they are placed by the male ; the skin then swells around, 

 and imbeds them, and there the young remain till they have undergone 

 their metamorphoses. During this period the mother lives in the water, 

 and when the young have become perfect, they leave their nests and shift 

 for themselves. The Pipa sometimes acquires eight inches in length, and 

 has great general resemblance to the Common Toad. The negroes and the 

 natives of Guiana make use of it for food, and consider its flesh very savoury. 



Family TAILED; Caudata. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



PLATE 8. 



Genera. 



Specin. 



Salamandra ... Maculosa - - - 



Triton ----- Marmorata - - 



Salamandrops ... Alleghanensis 



Siredon - .... Aiolotl- - - - 



Proteus ----- Anguinis - - - 



Siren Lacertina - - - 



Common Name. 



Spotted Salamander. 



- Marbled Newt or Eft. 



- Menopome or Hellbender. 



- Axolotl. 



- Snake-like Proteus. 



- Lizard-like Siren. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. SALAMANDRA. Head flattened ; ears concealed beneath the skin, 

 and without a tympanum ; jaws armed with numerous small teeth, and 

 two rows in the palate ; tongue adherent at the sides, reflected at the ex- 

 tremity ; body lengthened, lizard-shaped, covered with smooth, scaleless 

 skin largely provided with mucous pores ; tail long, and rounded ; four- 

 footed, the front feet having four and the hind feet five nailless toes ; gene- 

 ration ovoviviparous. 



2. TRITON. Head flat ; small teeth hi jaws and palate ; body lengthy, 

 and crested in the male ; tail compressed, crested above and below ; toes 

 of fore feet cleft, of the hind feet sometimes distinct, sometimes webbed. 



3. SALAMANDKOPS. Head broad and flattened ; in lower jaw a single 

 row of teeth ; upper two concentric rows, the inner semicircular and pala- 

 tine ; tongue free anteriorly ; operculum half way between the posterior 

 edge of the gape and the fore leg ; opercular cartilages three, the aperture 

 between the hinder two ; outer edge of the feet fimbriated ; four toes to 

 the fore, and five to die hind feet, the fourth and fifth of the latter webbed 

 and clawless. 



4. SIREDON (Gr. trtipa, a chain, and ocov, a tooth). Head flat, large ; 

 muzzle rounded ; gape reaching to the eyes ; in either jaw a single row of 

 very small teeth, and upon the palate bones numerous close-set small teeth, 

 disposed in tin arched form ; eyes small, round, and far forwards ; bran- 

 chial apertures four on each side, large, with four semicircular arches, the 

 hindmost anchylosed to the trunk, the middle two armed on their inner 

 edge with two rows of sharp deuticules, and the posterior with one row, 

 but the anterior unarmed ; upon the outer side of the anterior three arches, 



a narrow membrane ramifying into numerous hair-like processes ; gill-ilap 

 consisting of a fold of skin ; body narrower than the head, but stout, large, 

 and very broad, with a shallow crest commencing between the shoulders, 

 and running to the tip of the tail, which is much compressed, and there 

 joining with another crest commencing from the vent ; fore feet four-toed ; 

 hind feet five-toed, and all the toes pointed and nailli'ss. 



5. PROTEUS. Muzzle lengthy and flattened ; edges of both jaws beset 

 with a row of pointed vertical teeth, but the upper jaw has a few placed in 

 a distinct row before the others ; eyes very small, body slender and bare, 

 the tail compressed vertically ; legs of equal length, toes three before and 

 two behind. 



6. SIREN (Gr. trtipriv, a syren). Head small, muzzle rounded ; neither 

 intermaxillary bones nor teeth, except upon the palatine bones; eyes small, 

 round and subcutaneous ; no external ears ; branchial apertures three on a 

 side, and over each a fimbriated apjwndage or gill ; body eel-shaped, ter- 

 minating in a much-compressed tail ; anterior limbs only four-toed, un- 

 webbed, and nailless. 



CAUDATA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



SALAMANDRA. The Salamanders are distinguished from the Lizards by 

 their shining, scaleless skin ; by the shortness of their limbs, and the un- 

 equal length of their nailless 

 toes; by the entire absence 



of a third eyelid ; by the ear , -. 



i ' 



being completely hidden, and =^ -~ 7j*sV ~2\. * 



by the deficiency of its tym- ^fa/ *ffl^. 



J J v* MI 



panal portion, in place of 



which the oval hole is covered The Salamander. 



by a plate of cartilage ; by the jaws as well as the palate being armed 



with teeth, and by the tongue adhering on the sides of the jaw, and being 



reflected at its tip. As the straightness of the skinny covering of the 



Salamanders would prevent its growth, they are continually shedding it ; 



Latreille says, every ten days during the warm weather. The skin is not 



shed entire, but in flakes, which, under the microscope, have a reticular 



appearance. 



The body of the Salamanders is largely covered beneath the skin with 

 glands, or follicles, which secrete and retain a considerable quantity of 

 milky fluid, of a very glutinous nature. According to Dr. Barton's observ- 

 ation it does not dissolve in water, but is readily soluble in spirits of wine. 

 When the animal is irritated it secretes this fluid in large quantities, and is 

 capable of ejecting it to some distance. This has given rise to the report 

 of these animals being poisonous, an imputation attached vulgarly to the 

 Toad, which is also capable of ejecting from its pores a similar excretion. 

 To man and the larger animals they certainly are not so; but such is not 

 the case with those of smaller size, for Laurent! has proved that Lizards 

 can be destroyed by it. He provoked two grey Lizards to bite a Sala- 

 mander, which, after making great efforts to escape from them, at last 

 ejected some of this fluid into their mouths ; one of them died immediately, 

 and the other was attacked with convulsions which lasted for a couple of 

 minutes, and then expired. A third Lizard, into the mouth of which some 

 of the same fluid was introduced, became convulsed, the whole of oin gida 

 of the body was paralyzed, and it very soon died. 



Still they are really timid, harmless animals, which cannot be induced to 

 bite ; indeed their teeth are so weakly connected with the jaws, that any 

 forcible attempt to make them bite immediately detaches them ; and rather 

 than engage in any contest, they endeavour to avoid their tormentors l>v as 

 speedy a flight as their slow pace will allow. 



But the most remarkable property attributed to this genus is its power 

 of living in or extinguishing fire. This has been held perfectly true for 

 ages, and even to a very late period there have been believers of and 

 vouchers for the fact ; but the truth seems to be that the effusion of lluid 

 from the Salamander's body, increased by the heat of the fire, would I' >r a 

 very short period defend it from injury, just as a damp cloth would inr a 

 time resist burning, but so soon as the moisture is evaporated both one and 



