Snake-like Proteus.- 



-RErTILES.- 



-PeOTEUS of the I.AKE3. 



101 



ber, are merely rudimentary, being very weak, and 

 provided with short, wealc toes. The gills — largo in 

 the Proteus, but smaller in the Siren — are well deve- 

 loped, and divided into three branches. The internal 

 nostrils open between the lips and the palate bones. 

 The palate and lower jaw are provided with teeth, but 

 the upper jaw or maxillary bones are nearly wanting, 

 or reduced to a mere bony point. The eyes are small 

 and destitute of eyelids. The seven species of which 

 the order consists are arranged in two families, the 

 Proteid.'e and the Sirunid^. The Proteidce have 

 four legs, and there is only a single series of teeth on 

 the front edge of the vomerine bone. The Sirenidcc 

 have only two legs, the anterior pair ; and the palatine 

 teeth are arranged in numerous cross series on the 

 vomer. 



In the first fixniily we find an animal which has 

 excited very great interest amongst naturalists, and 

 whose history has produced a good deal of discussion. 



THE SNAKE-UKE PROTEUS {Proteus amjuiims)— 

 represented in Plate 4, fig. 3 — is a native of the 

 subterranean caverns of Adelsburg in Carniola. Pro- 

 fessor Wagner of Erlangen in Bavaria, has communi- 

 cated to us the results of an anatomical investigation 

 wdiich he was enabled to make of some specimens he 

 had received alive. He found the pulmonary sacs or 

 vesicles to be so constructed, that they could in reality 

 perform the functions of lungs. The specimens were 

 male and female, and in the latter he found the eggs 

 very beautifully developed. The blood globules be 

 ascertained to be of very large size, about twelve or 

 fifteen times the size of those of man, and distinctly 

 visible to the naked eye. lie sent a living specimen 

 to this country, which was kept alive for some time 

 (in 1837) in the Zoological Gardens of London. The 

 native place of abode of the Proteus is the water of 

 some subterranean cavities in the limestone formation 

 of Southern Europe. One of the most romantic and 

 splendid caverns in the world, is the grotto of the Jlad- 

 dalena at Adelsburg in the duchy of Carniola. This 

 cavern was visited by the late Sir Humphrey Davy, 

 who has left us a very interesting account of it and 

 its curious inhabitants : — " At first view," says Sir 

 Humiihrej', " you might suppose this animal to be a 

 lizard, but it has the motions of a fish. Its head, and 

 the lower part of its body, and its tail, bear a strong 

 resemblance to those of the eel ; but it has no fins, 

 and its curious branchial organs are not like the gills 

 of fishes. They form a singular vascular structure, 

 almost like a crest, round the throat, that may be 

 removed without occasioning the death of the animal, 

 which is likewise furnished with lungs. With this 

 double apparatus for supplying air to the blood, it can 

 live either below or above the surface of the water. 

 Its fore feet resemble bands, but they have oidy throe 

 claws or fingers, and are too feeble to be of use in 

 grasping or supporting the weight of the animal ; the 

 hinder feet have only two claws or toes, and in the 

 larger specimens are found so imperfect as almost to 

 be obliterated. It has small points in place of eyes, as 

 if to preserve the analogy of nature. It is of a fleshy 

 whiteness and transparency in its natural state ; but 

 when exposed to light its skin gradually becomes 



darker, and at last gains an olive tint. Its nasal 

 organs appear large, and it is abundantly furnished 

 with teeth, from which it may be concluded that it is 

 an animal of prey ; yet in its confined state it has never 

 been known to eat, and it has been kept alive for many 

 years by occasionally changing the w-ater in which it 

 was placed." It was at first supposed that these crea- 

 tures were immature forms, or mere tadpoles of some 

 large unknown animal which inhabits these subter- 

 ranean lakes ; but what we have stated above, of Pro- 

 fessor Wagner's finding both male and female, and of 

 this latter having well-developed ova within her body, 

 sufficiently proves the inaccuracy of the supposition. 

 Specimens have been taken of various sizes, from the 

 thieknoss of a qnill to that of the thumb, and about 

 one foot in length. The tail is compressed laterally, 

 like that of an eel, and is used in the same manner in 

 swimming. Individuals which have been kept alive 

 for some time in England, were observed to shroud 

 themselves in the darkest part of the vessel in which 

 they were placed, when the covering was taken off 

 in order to inspect them ; and to betray a sense of 

 uneasiness by their actions when exposed to the light 

 of open day, creeping round the sides of the vessel, 

 or under the shelter of any substance which threw a 

 partial shadow on the water. 



THE PROTEUS OF THE LAKES {Necturus maculoms), 

 another species of the f;xmily, is a native of North 

 America, and is only found in Lakes Champlain and 

 Erie, and their tributary streams. It has an elongated, 

 subcyliudrical body, and a long, compressed tail. The 

 skin is smooth, permeated by many pores, and the 

 colour is a dark cinereous gray, with somewhat cir- 

 cular spots of a darker hue irregularly dispersed. The 

 head is large and flattened, and it has a wide mouth, 

 covered by thick, fleshy lips. The eyes are small and 

 placed far asunder, and the small nostrils are placed 

 very near the margin of the ujiper lip. The gills, 

 which resemble fruige of the finest texture, are of con- 

 siderable size, and when the animal is alive, are of a 

 fine, rich, crimson colour. They are in constant motion. 

 Little, however, is known of the habits of this animal 

 in its native state. " In general," says Mr. Holbrook, 

 " it remains at the very bottom of the waters it inha- 

 bits, where it swims or creeps along the ground with a 

 slow, serpentine motion ; it is said rarely to leave the 

 water and crawl to the shore. It is seldom taken, 

 except in the months of April and Jlay, which is their 

 spawning season. At this time they are found about 

 waterfalls, where they conceal themselves in crevices 

 of rocks, and are now often caught with the hook 

 baited for cat-fish [Silunis) or eels, though little desired 

 by the fishermen, by whom they are regarded as poi- 

 sonous, and are consequently seldom taken in hand. 

 Their eggs are about the size of peas, and as many as 

 one hundred and fifty have been counted in a single 

 female. It feeds on various kinds of worms, insects, 

 shell-fish, and crustaceous animals. Though living 

 almost entirely in water, it does not appear that it 

 opens its mouth, or that the water p.asscs through it to 

 the branchial arches, as in fishes, during respiration ; 

 but that function seems to be performed simply by 

 the vibratory motion of the gills in water. When 



