22 
I send you ako the figures and 
descriptions of five new fishes No. 3 
to 7. Zonipus punctatus , Semotilus 
notatus , Lepemiurns fasciotatus 
and bilineatus, Luocilus auratilus 
and Zonargyra viresc-ens. All 
observed in the waters of Kentucky 
since publishing my Ichthyology of 
the Ohio in 1820, except the Le- 
pemiurus. 
To be Continued . 
16. Description of the Spelerpes or 
Salamander of the caves of Ken- 
tucky. By C. S. Rafinesque. 
In 1821 1 discovered anew Sala- 
mander, dwelling permanently in 
the dark caves of limestone near 
Lexington. It never comes out to 
the light, being found there in sum- 
mer. Its eyes are calculated for this 
life: they are large elliptical, with a 
large black pupil like the cats to 
shade them from the least access of 
light. It is called Cave Fuppet in 
Kentucky, while the other Sala- 
manders are named Ground Pup- 
pets. Several specimens were pre- 
served in the Museum of the 
Lexington University, presented by 
Dr. Crockatt. 
It appears to form a peculiar N. 
G. or S. G. among the Salamanders, 
which I call Spelerpes , meaning 
Cave reptile . Head round, broad 
and flat;mouth very large, split to the 
neck, jaws with small teeth, obtuse 
in the upper jaw, acute in the lower. 
Feet semi-pal mated, anterior with 
four toes, hinder with five toes. 
Tail cylindrical, slightly compres- 
sed at the base. Eyes oblong with 
a pupil. 
Spelerpes lucifuga . Entirely 
orange colour, covered with small 
oblong black dots all over, jaws 
equal. Tail very long, five eighths 
of whole length, which is from four 
to six inches, 
17. GEOLOGY AND HISTORY. 
History of China before the flood. 
By C. S. Rafinesque. 
The traditions presented by many 
ancient nations of the earliest his- 
tory of the earth and mankind, be- 
fore and after the great geological 
floods, which have desolated the 
globe, are highly interesting; they 
belong at once to geology, arche- 
oloy, history and many other sci- 
ences. They are the only glimpse 
to guide us where the fossil remains 
or medals of nature are silent or 
unknown. 
ikncient China was in the east- 
ern slopes and branches of the 
mountains of Central Asia, the hoa- 
ry Imalaya, where it is as yet very 
doubtful whether the flood thorough- 
ly extended. The traditional his- 
tory of China speaks of two great 
floods, which desolated but did not 
overwhelm the land. They answer 
to the two floods of Noah and Peleg 
recorded in the Bible, which hap- 
pened towards 3170, and 2357 be- 
fore our era, and have often been 
erroneously blended into one by 
several historians. The second or 
flood of Peleg, or Yao in China, was 
caused by volcanic paroxysms all 
over the earth, and much less fatal 
than the first of Noah, or Yn-ti in 
China. 
The following details are taken 
chiefly from the Chinese historians 
Lo-pi and Liu-ju , whose works are 
called Y-tse and Uai-ki, as partly 
translated by Leroux. Due allow- 
ance must be made for the allegori- 
cal and amplifying traditions; but 
truth may be sifted from them. 
The Chinese have few fables in 
their history; they deal in facts 
rather than fictions. 
The first flood of China happened 
under the 8th KI or period called 
Yn-ti, and the first emperor of it, 
Chin-sang about 3170 years before 
Christ, or 5002 years ago* The 
waters overflowed the land, and did 
not return to their usual channels 
for a long wdiiie; the misery of man- 
kind was extreme, the beasts and 
serpents were very numerous, the 
storms and cold had increased with 
heavy rains. Chin-sang collected 
the wandering men, taught them to 
unite to kill the beasts, dress their 
