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THK BATRACIIIA OF NOUTH AMERICA. 



210 



cies at the porioil of «leveloi)mtMit of the yoiinjj; iiiul describes them in 

 the following hinjjnaye :* 



" At the close of Angust, 18(S7, 1 spent a few days in Little Kock, 

 Ark., in theeinploy of Dr. IJranner, of the Arkansas {jeologicial snrvey. 

 On September 1 1 visited a cypress swunip in the vicinity of the city 

 Cor the purpose of colectiiig some reptiles. During the severe summer 

 drought this swamp had been almost completely dried up, and there 

 was little chance to get anything except by turn'.ig over pieces of fallen 

 tiiiil)er. IJeneath a log of i;onsiderabIe size I found to my surprise a 

 I, irge animal (ioiled up, which b^- its smooth glistening skin I immedi- 

 ately saw could not be a snake: but, having never before seen a living 

 Aiiiphiuma, it took me some tinu^ to realize that I had before me one of 

 these animals. After making due preparation to prevent its escai»e T 

 gave the animal a i)ush with a stout stick, aiul then, no attempt at re- 

 treat being made, I lifted it out of the slight depression in which it was 

 lying and let it straighten itself out. Meanwhile I ha«l observed, lying- 

 in the midst of the coils, a mass of moist-looking matter, nearly as large 

 as one's fist. Picking this up, 1 disirovered it to be a nniss of eggs. 

 This was put into a Jar of alcohol, and innnediately the young within 

 (lie egg «',onld be seen writhing about, thus showing that they were in 

 ail advanced stage of di^velopment. The mother offered no resistance 

 on l)cing handled, and was put into a small school satchel and car- 

 ried to the State geologist's oflice, a mile away, with two em|»ty fruit- 

 jars lying on her. That night she was kept in an empty boat box. 

 This wass(Miie eighteen inches in height, and from it she made efforts to 

 es<!a[»e. Slie would er<'(!t herself in oru' corner until her head was on a. 

 level with the edge of the box, but she could get no farther. Once in 

 falling down she uttered a shrill sound somewhat like a whistle or the 

 peeping of a .\onng chicken. A cry like that of a young duck has been 

 attributed l.y some observer to the Siren, but IJarton in some of his 

 writings denies the stat<'ment that such a sound is made. 



"The limbs of theses animals are very small. For instance, of this 

 one, havinga length of ;>1 inches, tlu^ hinder limbs are oidy tlireefbuidis 

 of an iiKih long, tln^ anterior only one half an inch. Yet, when it was 

 moving over the ground or the floor, it was amusing to observe that its 

 feet were put forward and drawn back, as if they really could l)e of some 

 use 



"On initating this Ampiiiuuje by pushing herwitha stick she would 

 snap at it viciously, and on further irritation would seize it in her Jaws 

 and, springing from tin? Www in the form of a spiral, would turn rapidly 

 round and round, thus twisting the stick in one's hand. Any enemy 

 thus attacked would certainly find his interest in the affair fully 

 aroused. 



"There an^ two points in the structure of tlie adult to which I wish 

 fo call attention ; although no doubt they have already been observed 



*Amfric;iii N:it nnili.st, April, 1888. 



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