James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 1

by Edwin James; Stephen H. Long; Thomas Say

Several animals have been described, to which it is more closely related by the character of the persistent branchia, than it is to the well-known types of the genus, of which the branchia disappear at the age of puberty. Of such animals the following may be instanced:

The Axolotl of Mexico. Siren pisciformis of Shaw. Gen. Zool.

The Tetradactyla of Lacepede in the Ann. des Mus. vol. x.

The Siren Operculée of Beauvois in Philos. Trans. of Phila. vol. iv.

And possibly also, the Proteus Neo Cæsariensis of Professor Green.—Jour. A. N. S. vol. i.

These four or five species might with propriety be separated from the genus to which they are referable in the present state of the system, and placed in a separate genus, the external characters of which will be the same as those of Triton, with the exception of the persistent branchia. Its proper station will doubtless be intermediate between Triton and Proteus, but far more closely related to the former.

It may be proper to mention in this place, that the generic name Triton, was applied by Laurenti to the Newts, long before Montfort made use of it in Conchology to designate the war conch of the ancient Romans, and of the present inhabitants of Madison's Island.

We are indebted to Dr. Richard Harlan, for the following anatomical observations, on this singular animal.

Alveolar margins of the maxillæ serrated, the spiculæ pointing backwards towards the œsophagus. The œsophagus very large, like that of the serpents, gradually expanding as it descends to form the stomach, which again contracts at the commencement of the intestinal tube; the lining membrane of the œsophagus and stomach, thrown into longitudinal folds, which were continued throughout the intestines; which tube undergoes several enlargements in its course, giving it a sacculated appearance similar to the alimentary canal of the alligator; in the animal under consideration, they form several convolutions previous to their termination into the cloaca; the stomach contained an earth worm. The mesentery transparent, displaying a number of very large lacteals, which, in the present instance, were filled with coagulated chyle. Length of the intestines 10 inches. The ovary is of considerable size, of an oblong figure, lying close to the vertebræ, and opening by a straight duct into the posterior part of the cloaca. Liver very large, and apparently (but not certainly) discharged its contents into the stomach. Lungs consist of two long membranous bags, which run the whole length of the abdomen, anteriorly to the stomach and intestines; the opening of the larynx scarcely large enough to admit a pin's head; the lungs resemble two long air-bags, more than a true pulmonary apparatus; the cartilaginous laminæ of the branchia, three in number, attached superiorly to the integuments over the cervical vertebræ, converging together beneath or anteriorly, and are attached to a cartilage answering to the os hyoides; the heart, which was extremely small, consisted apparently of one auricle and one ventricle, the aorta soon bifurcated, sending one branch to each pulmonary apparatus to be intimately ramified upon the branchia, resembling so far the circulation of fishes, and differing from the amphibia, in which there is either a double or mixed circulation.

Olfactory apparatus similar to that of fishes, viz. a small aperture near the extremity of the snout leads into a cavity or cul de sac, lined by a delicate membrane, plentifully supplied by the fibrillæ of two slender olfactory nerves, which go off from the anterior end of each lobe of the cerebrum. The brain is of an oblong figure, the cerebrum is formed of two lobes, the cerebellum of one lobe situate directly posterior, not much thicker than the medulla oblongata. The optic nerves, which were large in proportion to the organs of vision, took their origin in a very unusual manner. On either side of the medulla oblongata, is given off a large nerve, which proceeds forwards and outwards, and soon after it passes outside of the cavity of the cranium, it divides into two branches, the smaller goes to the eye, the larger is distributed to the superior maxilla. The eye itself is small, and the lens which was coagulated by the spirits, is about half the size of a pin's-head, and of the texture of the lens of a fish when boiled.