Philosophical Transactions for 1824. 127 



by a single duct from the Liver, and^'pours it immediately into 

 the intestine by means of an opening projecting in the manner of 

 an OS tinea?. This structure differs entirely from any that has 

 hitherto been observed, and it is worthy of remark that the food, 

 with which the Stomach of this animal has been found filled, con- 

 sisted wholly of the Fucus digitatus^ which Sir E. Home appears 

 to consider peculiar to it. 3rd, That in the placenta of the Seal, 

 the trunks of the vessels of which the funis is composed, are not 

 twisted upon each other, and that at about a third part of their 

 length from the placenta they subdivide into branches, which 

 freely anastomose together, and are connected to the placenta 

 itself by membranous folds, between which the blood vessels are 

 conveyed to its substance, on which they ramify with great mi- 

 nuteness; a structure that will obviously give greater facility to 

 the circulation, and renders it an object of interest to ascertain 

 whether the same peculiarities are to be found in other marine 

 animals. 



The other paper by Sir Everard Home, presents '' An Account 

 of the Organs of Generation of the Mexican Proteus, called by 

 the natives Axolotl." He considers that Cuvier has positively 

 established the fact that the Proteus of Germany, as well as that 

 of Carolina, are actually animals in a perfect state, and not larvae. 

 The discovery that the vertebras of the Mexican Proteus were 

 cupped in the same manner as those of the two other species, had. 

 already convinced him that it also belonged to the same tribe, 

 and was consequently an animal in a perfect state. To place this 

 question, however, beyond all doubt, he obtained from Mr. 

 Bullock several specimens, brought from a Lake three miles 

 from the City of Mexico, where they are so abundant in the 

 month of June, as to form a principal part of the food of the 

 peasantry. Two of these specimens, the male and female, are 

 here represented, together with dissections of their viscera, which 

 bear a close resemblance to those of the Aquatic Salamanders. 

 The female organs in their developed state are beautifully shewn, 

 and there is every probability, from the appearance of the ova 

 contained within them, that they pass out singly. 



