ORDER BATRx^.CHIA. 475 



would apply the name amphiuma didactyhtm, has the body 

 elongated and cylindrical ; the head depressed and obtuse ; 

 the tail compressed, pointed, trenchant above, and rounded 

 underneath. The nostrils are pierced at the end of the 

 muzzle ; the eyes lateral, round, small, and without lids ; 

 the lips slender. The teeth are conical, pointed, a little 

 arched, and crowded one against the other ; the tongue is not 

 very apparent. The fore feet are formed like tentacula ; the 

 toes are only two in number on all the feet. 



This whole animal is covered with a smooth skin, present- 

 ing no other inequalities than the folds of the sides, and some 

 granulations on the head. It is of a blackish grey above, 

 and pale underneath, without spot or stripe. It varies in 

 length from six inches to two feet. 



This reptile inhabits ponds in the neighbourhood of New 

 Orleans, in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. It is 

 sometimes found sunk in mud, two or three feet deep, and 

 concealed like an earthworm. A great number of indivi- 

 duals we're thus found in hollowing a ditch near Pensacola. 

 It can also exist for some time on land. The negroes of 

 these colonies call it the Serpent of Congo, and dread it, but 

 without reason, as being venomous. 



The amphiuma tridactylum of our author is a new 

 species, differing from the preceding only in the number of 

 its toes. 



We insert figures of Dr. Harlan"'s two genera, Menopoma 

 without external gills, and Menobranchus with them, as 

 also of the Axolotl, for the specific descriptions of which we 

 refer to the text and table. 



The animal which has given rise to the establishment of 

 the genus Proteus, is a being of a very extraordinary kind, 

 having much analogy with the larvae of the salamanders, 

 while they are yet provided with their gills. The knowledge 

 of it is owing to the Baron de Zois, a gentleman of Carniola, 



