EE0TEUS OP TIIE LAKES. 23 



EEPOET OE COMMITTEE. 



The Committee appointed by the Canadian Institute to report 

 on a specimen of the Proteus of the Lakes, exhibited at a meeting 

 of the Institute on the loth of December, 1855, by J. Gr. Hodgins, 

 Esq., and supposed by him, for reasons assigned in his paper, to be a 

 new genus, for which he suggested the name of Proteus Canadensis, 

 have arrived, after a careful examination of the specimen, at the fol- 

 lowing conclusions : — ■ 



First, that the supposed fifth toe on one of the hind feet, is an 

 unnatural or " monstrous" development of a second foot, exhibiting 

 three, or more strictly, four toes— the central or larger division shew- 

 ing a very perceptible union of two of the abortive organs. 



Secondly, that in its dental characters, the position of the nostrils, 

 the form of the lips and head, the general condition of the skin, and 

 other particulars, the specimen in question corresponds exactly with 

 the Menobranchus Lateralis, to which the Commitbee would con- 

 sequently refer it. 



The Perennibranchiate Batraehians include four genera, character- 

 ised as follows : 



A. Palatal teeth in several rows. Teeth also in several rows on the 

 T surface of the lower jaw. 



Siren : — Hind limbs undeveloped. 



Axolotl: — Two pairs of limbs. Toe3, four in front ; five behind. 



B. Palatal teeth in a single row. JSfo teeth on the inner surface of 

 the lower jaw. 



Menobranchus : — Toes, four in front ; four behind. 



Proteus : — Toes, three in front ; two behind. 

 The single row of palatal teeth, exclusive of the row upon the 

 intermaxillaries at the margin of the mouth, places Mr. Hodgins' 

 specimen in the second or higher group, and the number of the toes 

 proves it to belong to the genus Menobranchus. Its further agree- 

 ment with the Menobranchus lateralis has been already pointed out. 

 According to the American naturalists, the occurrence of a dark 

 lateral stripe, from which the name of the species was originally 

 derived, is by no means a constant character. 



