476 CLASS REPTILIA. 



a country where the proteus is sometimes seen during the 

 exundations of the subterraneous lakes, a phenomenon of a 

 very peculiar character in that region. From the individuals 

 collected by that enlightened cultivator of natural science, 

 Laurenti and Scopoli drew the descriptions which first made 

 this reptile known, without, however, giving entire satisfac- 

 tion to naturalists by their details. 



The proteus anguinus of Laurenti, si7'en anguina of 

 Schneider, is about a foot in length, and of the thickness of 

 one''s finger. Its tail is compressed vertically. Besides the 

 internal lungs, it has three gills on each side of a coral red 

 colour, formed like feathery tufts, and which it seems to 

 preserve all its life. It has teeth in both jaws. The eye, 

 which is excessively small, is concealed by teguments, like 

 that of the asphalax. Its ear, covered by flesh, has in that 

 respect much analogy with that of the salamanders. Its skin 

 is smooth, whitish, and mucous. 



For a long time it was believed that the lakes of the en- 

 virons of Sittich, in Lower Carniola, constituted the sole 

 habitat of the proteus. But within these some years past, 

 discoveries have been made in the grotto of Adelsberg, on the 

 high road from Trieste to Vienna, which have set naturalists 

 to examine this subject anew with assiduity and success. 



Hermann, Schneider, and some other writers have ima- 

 gined that the proteus was only a reptile in the larva state, 

 but in the entire district which it inhabits no salamander is 

 known from which it could possibly proceed, nor any with the 

 true larva of which we are not perfectly acquainted. 



The proteus walks but slowly, but swims extremely well, 

 and utters a feeble sort of sound, like the noise made by the 

 piston of a syringe. It possesses some vestige of a larynx. 

 Between its gills there are holes which penetrate into the 

 back part of the mouth. The liver is divided into three 

 lobes, and proceeds from the thorax to the pelvis. The gall 



