ZOOLOGY. 



[PART II. 



Ccecilia. The rocky jungle, bordering the higher 

 coffee estates, provides a safe retreat for a very singular 

 animal, first introduced to the notice of European 

 naturalists about a century ago by Linnseus, who 

 gave it the name Ccecilia glutinosa, to indicate two 

 peculiarities manifest to the ordinary observer an appa- 

 rent defect of vision, from the eyes being so small and 

 imbedded as to be scarcely distinguishable ; and a power 

 of secreting from minute pores in the skin a viscous 

 fluid, resembling that of snails, eels, and some salaman- 

 ders. Specimens are rare in Europe from the readiness 

 with which it decomposes, breaking down into a flaky 

 mass in the spirits in which it is attempted to be pre- 

 served. 



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 imbedded 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 live. 



Naturalists are most desirous that the habits and meta- 

 morphoses of this creature should be carefully ascertained, 

 for great doubts have been entertained as to the position 

 it is entitled to occupy in the chain of creation. 



Frogs. In the numerous marshes formed by the 

 overflowing of the rivers in the vast plains of the low 

 country, there are many varieties of frogs, which, both 

 by their colours and by their extraordinary size, are 

 calculated to excite the surprise of strangers. 1 In the 



nothing will cause it to adhere any 

 more. 



" These effects I witnessed in the 

 case of a bite of a rattle-snake at 

 Oposura, a town in the province of 

 Sonora, in Mexico, from whence I 

 obtained my recipe ; and I have 

 given other particulars respecting it 

 in my Travels in the Interior of 

 Mexico, published in 1830. R. W. II. 

 HARDY. Bath, 30th January, 1860." 



1 The Indian toad (Bufo melano- 

 stictus, Schneid) is found in Ceylon, 

 and the belief in its venomous nature 

 is as old as the third century B.C., 

 when the Mahawanso mentions that 

 the wife of " King Asoka attempted 

 to destroy the great bo-tree (at Ma- 

 gadha) with the poisoned fang of a 

 toad."Cb. xx. p. 122. 



