a doubtful amphibious Animal of Germany. 247 
under one, and surrounds it with a thick folded skin, forming 
a considerable lip, and making the mouth itself larger and 
broader than it would be according to the size of the skull. It 
has no nostrils, external ears, or appearance of eyes. 
This last circumstance occasioned the mistake of Dr. Lau- 
renti, and of all the other naturalists, who affirmed that the 
animal was really destitute of eyes. It is true, that there is no 
appearance of them after death, particularly when the animal 
has been kept in spirit ; and indeed they are scarcely to be 
discovered even while it is alive ; but, if the skin is removed 
from the front of the head, they may be seen at the base of the 
rostrum, beneath the foremost protuberances. They are very 
small, and black ; seem to be very simple, and are not quite so 
globular as those of fishes, but more flat : they lie in a small 
cavity of the skull, and seemed to be somewhat attached, at 
least by some glutinous matter, to the skin itself ; as, by re- 
moving the skin without sufficient care, they adhered to it, and 
came out of their cavity, along with a small thread, which I 
think was the optic nerve . 
On the sides of the occiput are apertures, like those of fishes ; 
and, over them, ramified branches of vessels or branchial ap- 
pendages, similar to those of tadpoles or other larvae of amphi- 
bious animals ; which analogy has occasioned so many doubts 
and dissentions among the learned about this animal, as well 
as about the still ambiguous Siren lacertina of Linn^us. These 
appendages are formed by three very large branches of blood 
vessels, of which the uppermost is the largest, the next some- 
what smaller, and the lowest the smallest: each of these is 
divided into smaller branches ; which, lastly, are bordered on 
their under edge by many very small and thin ones. Their 
