114 



MENOBRANCHUS MACULATUS. 



by Schneider;* indeed, his description is too good to be mistaken; he says he 

 found it in the Museum of Professor Helwigg, at Brunswick — that it came from 

 Lake Champlain — that it is reputed poisonous by fishermen, &c. &c; he regards 

 it, however, as a species of Siren. 



This reptile is next mentioned in the work of Daudin, who very erroneously 

 regarded it as the larva or young of the Menopoma Alleghaniensis. 



Dr. Mitchell gave a good description of it in the seventh volume of Silliman's 

 Journal of Arts and Sciences, under the name of Proteus of the Lakes. 



The account, however, of this animal, given by Mr. Barnes, aided by Professor 

 Benedict, is the most accurate and most interesting of any that has fallen under 

 my observation. 



* Pervenit eo ex Americano lacu Champlain dicto transmission, ubi captum cum piscibus 

 timent ecu venenatum piscatores. Corpus ultra 8 pollices longum et fere pollicem crassum, 

 molle, spongiosum, multis poris pervium, in utroque latere tribus macularum rotundarum, 

 nigrarum sericbus variegatum: cauda compressa et anceps, utrinque maculata, inferiore acie 

 recta, superiore curvata, in finem teretusculum terminatur. Caput latum et planum: oculi 

 parvi, nares anteriores in margine labii superioris, maxillae superioris geminse ut inferioris, 

 dentes conici, obtusi, satis longi: lingua lata, integra, anterius soluta: apertura oris patet 

 usque ad oculorum lineam verticalem: labia piscium labiis similia: pedes dissiti quatuor, tetra- 

 dactyli omnes, absque unguiculis: ani rima in longitudinem patet: Branchiae utrinque ternae 

 extus propendent, appositae superne totidem arcubus cartilagineis, quorum latus internum 

 tubercula cartilaginea, vclut in piscium genere, exasperant, &c. &.c. 



