AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS. 3 



they are of a mild and peaceful disposition. — The bo- 

 dies of the amphibious animals are cold to the touch. 

 This Circumstance, and their usually squalid and 

 ugly form, have excited so great a disgust as partly 

 to have founded the notion of all of them being ve- 

 nomous. Very few, however, except among the 

 Serpent tribes, and even of these not more than one 

 sixth of the species, possess this dreadful quality. — 

 They are all extremely tenacious of life, and some of 

 them will continue to move and exert animal func- 

 tions, even destitute of their head or heart. — Their 

 colours are often livid and disgusting; though some 

 are decorated with most splendid skins. Many of 

 them exhale a loathsome odour, owing perhaps to 

 the foulness of their abode, or the substances on 

 which they feed. — Their voices are either harsh and 

 unmusical, or else the animals are entirely dumb. 



Most of the Amphibia are oviparous. The 

 Reptiles, therefore, or those that have four legs, 

 are denominated oviparous quadrupeds, to distin- 

 guish them from the Mammalia, or viviparous 

 quadrupeds. They are usually very prolific. The 

 eggs of some species are covered with a hard cal- 

 careous shell; whilst those of others have a soft 

 tough skin or covering, somewhat resembling parch- 

 ment : the eggs of several are perfectly gelatinous. 

 As soon as the parent animals have deposited their 

 eggs in a proper place, they take no further care of 

 them, but leave them to be hatched by the sun. In 

 those few species that are viviparous, the eggs are 

 regularly formed, but hatched internally : this is the 

 case with the Viper and some others. 



B 2 



