il-ENOPOME. Prutoiwpsis Aorrtuu. 



fish on which it feeds, and the keeper told me that even in captivity it easily catches the 

 fish that are put into its tank. On the journey, it was mostly fed upon eels, and at the 

 present time it eats eels as well as other fish, provided they are rather small. 



It is well to mention casually in this place that the human-looking skeleton, discovered 

 at (Eningen in 1726, and long supposed to be the fossil skeleton of a man who had 

 perished in the deluge, is nothing more than the bones of a huge Salamander, closely 

 allied to the present species. The colour of the Gigantic Salamander is a very dark brown, 

 with a tinge of chocolate, and taking a lighter and more yellowish hue upon the under 

 surface of the feet. 



THE great MENOPOME of America has been honoured with a large array of names, 

 among which are TWEEG, HELLBENDEK, MUD DEVIL, and GROUND PUPPY, the first being 

 an Indian name, and the others given to the creature in allusion to its mud-loving habits 

 or the ferocity of its disposition. 



The Menopome inhabits the Ohio and Alleghany rivers, and it is a fierce and voracious 

 animal, so dangerous a foe to fish and other living beings that it is in some places known 

 by the name of Young Alligator. It is very ugly, and rather revolting in appearance, so 

 that the fishermen stand in great awe of the fierce, active beast, and think it to be 

 venomous as well as voracious. The teeth, however, are very small in proportion to the 

 size of the creature. Its colour is slaty grey, with dark spots, and a dark streak runs 

 through the eye. Its length is about two feet 



THE second family of this order is represented by its typical species, the CONGO SNAKE. 



This curious creature is a native of America, and is found rather plentifully near New 

 Orleans, in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. It is fond of burrowing in mud, and 

 will often descend to a depth of three feet below the surface of the soil, acting indeed more 

 like an earthworm than a vertebrate animal. Many of these creatures have been acci- 

 dentally dug out while deepening or clearing ditches. The negroes are much afraid of the 

 Congo Snake, and think it to be poisonous, a belief which has its only foundation in fear, 

 generated by ignorance. 



