CLASS IV. BATRACHIA: 
OEDER 3. AMPHIPNEUSTA. 
417 
THE AMPHIUMID^. 
This family includes several very curious animals having a persistent tail, and tour small legs 
sometimes armed with claws ; there are no external branchiai, and the lungs are well developed. 
They are partial to the mud of shallow waters, and are chiefly found in the United States. 
Genus AMPHIUMA : Amphiuma. — In these the hody is eel-shaped, legs feeble and rudi- 
mentary, with two or three jointless toes ; 
no ribs ; two rows of teeth in the upper and 
one in the lower jaw. The A. means is dark 
brown, one to three feet long; found from 
South Carolina to Mexico. The A. trydacty- 
lum is similar to the preceding. 
Genus MENOPOMA: Menopoma. — To 
this belongs the Alleghany Hell-Bv.nder, 
M. Alleghaniensis. It is one to two feet long, 
dark slate color, feeds on worms, crawfish, 
fishes, and aquatic reptiles. It is very vora- 
cious, and nothing it can master is spared. 
It is dreaded by the fisherman, and is believed 
to be poisonous ; the popular notions of it are 
expressed in the various names of Mzid Devil, 
Ground Puppy, and Young Alligator. It in- 
THE ALLEGHANY HELL-BENDER. 
habits the Ohio and its tributaries, and also the Alleghany river. 
ORDER 3. AMPHIPNEUSTA. 
In this the animals have a naked skin, an elongated body produced into a permanent tail, and 
the limbs more or less developed. They have also permanent branchial organs, which project 
from the sides of the neck. They are divided into two families, the Sirenid and Proteid^. 
THE SIKENID^ 
These have only two legs; the body is long and somewhat cylindrical. 
Genus SIREN : Siren. — To this beJongs the 
S. lacertina of South Carolina and Florida ; 
two feet long, black above and dusky beneath. 
It is of an eel-like form, lives in the muddy 
water of the rice swamps, and feeds on worms 
and insects. There are several smaller spe- 
cies in the same regions. 
THE PKOTEID^. 
THE SIREN LACERTINA. 
These have a compressed tail, large branchiae 
and four legs. 
Genus HYPOCHTHON : Hypochthon.— 
To this belongs the Proteus of Europe, H. anguinus, a foot long, and of the size of a man's 
finger ; it is generally flesh-color, but sometimes white ; the eyes are small and hidden beneath 
the skin, the legs four, small and weak. It swims easily, with a leech-like undulation of the body. 
It is found in the muddy waters of certain caves in Carinthia, Austria, several hundred feet 
below the surface. The eyes are useless for vision ; when in captivity this creature avoids the 
light and seeks dark places. 
Genus MENOBRANCHUS : Menohranckus. — To this belongs the Banded Proteus, M. 
lateralis, one to two feet long, body cylindrical and smooth, color brownish, spotted with black; 
Vol. II.— 53. 
