BATRACHIAURODELA. 



lated in shape ; very acute and tliin. The palatine teeth are incon- 

 spicuous, rather blunt, disposed upon an open V-shaped figure, 

 the summit of which being directed backwards, whilst its branches 

 extend to the internal and posterior margin of the inner nostrils. 

 There are two elongated patches of minute teeth on the sphenoid, 

 closely approximating anteriorly and diverging slightly posteriorly, 

 where they are rounded and broadest. The cordiform or peltate 

 tongue fills the whole space of the inferior floor of the mouth ; it is 

 attached along its medial line, whilst its sides are perfectly free, as is 

 also, slightly, its tapering tip and its posterior bilobed expansion. 



The neck is elongated, and slightly contracted ; a distinct and well- 

 marked gular fold may be observed on the specimens before us. It 

 will be important to ascertain whether that fold exists during life, 

 since its presence has been contested by some writers. 



The body is subfusiform, diminishing towards both extremities. 

 The sides of the abdomen are transversely folded, mayhap, an effect 

 of artificial contraction. The tail is almost as long as the head and 

 body together ; it is subcylindrical, somewhat compressed, and taper- 

 ing away ; its upper and lower edges are rounded. 



The limbs, generally speaking, are slender, the posterior ones a 

 little longer and stouter than the anterior. When the former are 

 brought forwards, and the latter backwards, alongside the body, the 

 toes of either are caused to meet with each other. The toes them- 

 selves are slender, entirely free, and terminated by a callous, disk-like 

 expansion, resembling, in that respect, the species of the genus (Edi- 

 pus. The anterior inner toe is quite small ; the third is the longest ; 

 the second, nearly equal in size to the fourth. The posterior inner 

 toe is small also j the third and fourth are the longest, and almost 

 equal in length ; the second and fourth, again, are nearly equal. 



The skin appears quite smooth ; when examined under the micro- 

 scope, however, it is found to contain a meshwork of minute, irregu- 

 larly stelliform bodies, as exhibited (though very imperfectly) in 

 figure 33, each stella having a hollow or clear centre. 



The color, as preserved on specimens in alcohol, is of a uniform 

 dark-olive above, and light-yellow beneath. 



Collected at San Francisco, California. 



Plate I, fig. 26, represents Anaides luguhris, size of life, in profile. 



