Notice of the appearance of Fish and Lizards. 43 



the time since their arrival there, could not possibly have ex- 

 ceeded a fortnight. The fall of meteorolites from the heav- 

 ens has been recorded by the historian, from the earliest ages, 

 and as often discredited, from philosophic vanity. The fre- 

 quent recurrence of this seeming physical paradox, having 

 been finally established on the fullest evidence, should guard 

 the philosopher against vain presumption, and fortify him in 

 other cases, in the hope of successful research. 



While on the subject of mysterious nature, I will intro- 

 duce, as concisely as possible, a case, where she reconciled 

 animals of the coldest and most meagre habits to the enjoy- 

 ment of the warmth and luxuries of the human stomach ; 

 for these facts, though not personally conversant with ihem, 

 I have the authority of a medical gentleman of unquestion- 

 able veracity, to vouch for their rigid truth ; in reply to my 

 request to be informed of the habits, food, drink, employment, 

 &c. of the patient, I received the following account. " On 

 my arrival, I found that she, (the patient,) had puked up two 

 ground puppies and was labouring under a violent sick stom- 

 ach, with pain, and syncope : the first was dead when ejec- 

 ted, the second was alive when I arrived, and ran about the 

 room ; they were about three inches long ; she informed me, 

 that on the road that morning she had thrown up two others ; 

 the case occurred in the summer, and had made gradual pro- 

 gress, from the first of April, and as she described it, with a 

 peculiar sickness, and frequent sensation of something mov- 

 ing in her stomach ; with slight pain and loss of appetite, 

 which increased till her illness. She was about twenty years 

 of age, and had enjoyed good health ; her employment had 

 confined her in the swamp, during the winter and spring, and 

 she had from necessity, constantly drunk swamp water." 

 The physician administered an emetic in quest of more pup- 

 pies, but being disappointed, he gave an opiate ; she was 

 relieved, finally, and has been, since, in health. 



These animals have, since, been shown to me : they are 

 not the ground puppy, (gecko,) as they are vulgarly called ; 

 they resemble it very much, but are easily distinguished from 

 it; they belong to the same genus, (lacerta, or lizard,) but are 

 of the species " salamander ;" their habitudes too, are essen- 

 tially different ; the gecko is found in houses and warm places; 

 the salamander in cold damp places, and shaded swamps, 

 and by the streams of meadows ; these animals though ovip- 

 arous, hatch their eggs in the belly, like the viper and pro- 



