Prof. Owen on a new species of Axolotl. 23 VII. — Characters of a new Species of Axolotl. By Prof. Owen, F.R.S. Genus Axolotes*. Gyrinus, Shaw ; Phyllhydrus, Brooks ; Siredon, Wagler ; Axolotl, Humboldt and Cuvier. Sp. 1. guttata. A. fusca, nigro-guttata, capite antice rotundato, cauda compresso-lanceolata. Shaw, Nat. Misc. no. 343, Gyrinus mexicanus ; Gen. Zool. iii. p. 612. pi. 140, Siren pis ciformis. Humboldt and Cuvier, Voyage de Humboldt, Zoologie, 2 eme partie, Reptiles douteux, p. 109. pi. 1 2, Axolotl du Mexique. Home, Phil. Trans. 1824, p. 419. pi. 22 and 23, Mexican Proteus. Wagler, Icones Amphib. tab. 20, Siredon Axolotl. Longitudo 7 unc. ad 14 unc. Hab. In lacu juxta urbem Mexico. Sp. 2. maculata. A. grisea, nigro-marmorata, subtus lac tea, capite antice truncato, cauda compresso-rotundata. Longitudo 3 unc. ad 5 unc. Hab. In Mexico, in fluviis Sierra Madre, Chihuahua, lat. 26° 6' N., long. 106° 50' W. Axolotes maculata, nat. size. VIII. — On Ova believed to be those of the Large Spotted Dog-fish, Scyllium Catulus, Linn. (sp.). About the middle of the month of December last, there were sent to the Belfast Museum two plants of the tangle (Laminaria digitata), * This rendering of the Mexican word, first applied generically by Cuvier, has long been adopted by Mayer and other German anatomists : the word is inflected according to the third declension — Axolotes, is, em, ibus. The characters of the first known species, for which the trivial names ' mexicana ' and ' pisciformis ' have ceased to be distinctive, are prefixed to render those of the second species more intelligible.
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