August 10, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



161 



face, which is carried over the tail. A faint body. We find the gill-clefts with two 

 lateral crease is found along the mid-third of obliquelj' placed lips, with wliieh they can be 

 the body, with feeble corrngations crossing it closed, the anterior one being the larger. The 

 verticall}-, that are quite evident as the crea- internal openings to the gill-clefts are far back 

 ture writhes about, and the eel-like slime that in the pharynx, nearly opposite the rudimen- 

 naturally covers his entire body partiallj- dries. tary and partially cartilaginous larynx, which 

 The limbs are pretty well developed : each is latter communicates directly with the superior 

 three-fingered, or, better, each possesses three extremities of the membranous pulmonary air- 

 digits. The hinder limbs are larger than the passages. A pair of normal lungs are among 

 fore ones, and stronger in ever}' wav- The the most exquisite of structures in any vcrte- 

 bodj' tapers to a tail beyond the genit.ll fissure, l>ratc. Here they are particularlj* beautiful, 

 but no well-marked constriction indicates to us being \ev\ long, cylindrical in form, extending 

 its exact commencement, or attachment to the far down into the abdomen, to terminate in 

 bodv. It is rounded beneath, and finished off pointed extremities. The right is thirteen cen- 

 along the median dorsal line with a thick- timetres longer than the left, and is carried 

 ened, feebly pronounced crest. Sections made nearly down to a point op|)osttc the cloaca, 

 through the body itself, between the fore and From one end to the other, tiie alimentary tract 

 hind limbs, are ellii)tical, with the major axes is nearly' or quite a straight tul)e. The oesoph- 

 in the horizontal plane. I have taken other ageal portion is rather small and tubular, with 

 measurements from tliis specimen, which I a few circular constrictions in its lower third, 

 present in the form of a table. This division soon dilates into a spindle-shaped 

 ^ ,, , ,„„ stomach of some size, which, in the specimen 



Total length SO.O cent. , „ . „ , .. , , ., 



Mid.girth 14.0 " before me, is fourteen centimetres below the 



Length of fore limb 1.7 " pharyngeal aperture. Below this last dilation 



;; ;; 5^1.°^"'"'' el " ^'^^ •"'-'^stinal tract is carried straight to the 



Distance between the eyes . ........ . 2^0 " cloaca, or rectal enlargement, into which the 



nostrils 6 " urinarj' and genital organs open. A very 



„■„" , ^ , " """^-P"""* '"'''" "y^' ^"^ "°""''' -■■■ " peculiar feature is noticeable in the circular 



GlU-cleft from eye 4.2 " ' ..... ^, . ■ ^, • ^ .• i. • 



Forelegs apart .1.1 " constrictions that occur in the intestine at ir- 



Hindicgs " 2.2 " regular intervals along its length. Very dark 



Length of genital fissure . . 1.2 " in color, tlic iTianv-lobed Hvcr is about twent}-- 



Commissureof iflwfrom gill-cleft 3.0 " . .■ ^ ,' , x •.. i 



From a point midway between hind-iimbs to tip of tail, 20.0 ■• SIX centimetres long, and covcrs at its lower 



tenth, or thicker extremity, an ellipsoidal gall- 



The nasal apertures are very small, and the liladder of no small size. Many features of 



e3-es are black, round, a little more than a interest and importance present themselves in 



millimetre in diameter, and devoid of lids. tiiecirciilalory and renal systems ; but our space 



I may remark here, that, while engaged in will not permit us to enter upon them here, as 

 taking tliese measurements, this specimen sue- we have something to say about the osteology 

 ceedcd in seizing my thumb in his mouth, and of Muraenopsis. Among otiier organs, a well- 

 immediately commenced liis peculiar gyrations, developed pancreas is to be observed ; and the 

 turning himself in the long axis of his l)ody ; Wolffian bodies are present, and their dilated 

 but I was too strong for him, and soon disen- upper extremities are about opposite the lower 

 gaged myself. The bite caused no more in- end of the liver. 



convenience than those I have received from The tongue in this siren is in an extremely 



alligators a month old. imlimentary stage of development. 1 will close 



The upper lips of the three-fingered siren are this brief sketch of the anatomy of the soft 



thin-edged and pendulous, extending from parts — yet it can hardl}^ be termed a sketch, 



the commissure of the jaw to a point nearl}- for man}' structures have not even been alluded 



opposite the nostril on either side, where they to — by calling tlie reader's attention to the 



merge into the rounded snout. The lower lips remarkable length of time that nervous excita- 



donot meet in fiont by a centimetre. Thej-are bility, if I may apply such a term t6 the phe- 



likewise thick and sharp-edged, overhanging nomcnon, was kept up. My specimen was 



the common integument of the lower jaw, and killed with chloroform. That of itself took a 



originating posteriorly within the commissure long time, fort}' minutes or more; but what 



and beneath the upper liiis. Minute glandular is this, compared with the fact that its 



openings are seen on the head above, and in heart continued to pulsate in good rhythmical 



the maxillaiy space beneath, symraetricall}' time during three hours and a half of my 



arranged iu rows, as on other parts of the operations, and after the most extensive dis- 



