Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/713

 HERPETOLOGY ing and five fossil orders: 1, crocodilia; 2, certilia, as lizards, blindworms, and chame- leons ; 3, ophidia, or snakes ; 4, chelonia, tur- tles and tortoises ; and the following fossil : 5, ichthyosauria ; 6, plesiosauria ; 7, dicyno- dontia ; 8, pterosauria ; 9, dinosauria. Prof. Nicholson, in his "Text Book of Zoology" (London, 1872), adopts the same classification, simply adopting Owen's names for the fifth, sixth, and seventh orders of Huxley. First in the order of American classifications of native reptiles is that of Harlan, given in the "Jour- nal of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences " (vols. v. and vi., 1826). He adopts Brongniart's four orders, dividing them as fol- lows: 1, batrachia, divided into three sections according to the mode of respiration ; the first has the branchial openings persistent, as in amphiuma and menopoma, the second with persistent branchiae, like siren and menolran- chus, and the third with deciduous branchiae, breathing by lungs in the adult state (sala- manders, frogs, and toads) ; 2, ophidia, with six North American genera; 3, sauria, with six genera ; and 4, chelonia, with three families of land, fresh-water, and sea tortoises, with two, three, and two genera respectively. Dr. J. E. Holbrook, in his " North American Her- petology " (5 vols. 4to, 1842), adopts the four orders of chelonia, sauria, ophidia, and batra- chla ; in the chelonia, sauria, and tailless fiatrachia, he follows essentially the arrange- ment of Dume'ril and Bibron ; in ophidia he prefers Cuvier's classification ; and in the tailed ~batrachia, a system partly from Cuvier and part- ly from Fitzinger. His work is very valuable to the American student, both for its lucid descrip- tions and excellent illustrations. Messrs. Baird and Girard have published in the " Reports of the Smithsonian Institution" (1853) a cata- logue of North American serpents, of the fam- ilies crotalidcs, colubridcs, boidw, and typhlo- pidm ; of 35 genera they make 22 new, and of 119 species 54 new. Mr. Baird has published a revision of the North American tailed batra- chia, with new genera and species, in the "Journal of the Academy of Natural Sci- ences" (vol. i., 2d series, 1850), adopting the two groups of Dumeril and Bibron, atreto- dera and trematodera. In the same journal, vol. iii., 1858, is a paper by Dr. E. Hallowell on the caducibranchiate batrachians. Mr. J. Le Conte, in the " Proceedings of the Acade- my of Natural Sciences " (vol. vii., 1854), gives a catalogue of the American testudinata, which he divides into three families, corresponding to sea, fresh-water, and land tortoises. Other catalogues of American reptiles, more or less extensive, are scattered through the scientific journals. De Kay, in the " Natural History of New York" (1842), divides its reptiles into the orders : 1, chelonia, with family chelonidce ; 2, sauria, with families scincidce and agamidm ; and 3, ophidia, with families coluberidce and crotalidw. The amphibia he divides into the families ranidce, salamandridce, sirenida, and HERRERA 695 amphiumidcB. Prof. Agassiz, in his "Essay on Classification 'J (1857), insists on the separa-' tion of the amphibians as a class from the rep- tiles, from the different manner in which their structural plan is carried out; the former breathe by lungs or gills, undergo metamor- phosis, lay a large number of small eggs, and have a naked skin ; the latter are covered with horny scales, lay few and comparatively large eggs, breathe by lungs, and undergo no marked transformation ; these differences require special ways and means in framing their structure, which ought to rank them as distinct classes. Prof. Agassiz divides his fifth class, or am- phibians, into three orders, coBcilice, icJithyodi, and anura; and the sixth and higher class, reptiles, into four orders, serpentes, saurii, rhizodontes, and testudinata. In part ii. of his first volume, above referred to, he divides the order testudinata into the suborders : 1, chelonii (Opp.), with two families, chelonioidce and sphargididcB ; 2, amydce (Opp.), with seven families, trionychidce, chelyoidce, hydraspididce, chelydroidce, cinosternoidce, emydoidce, and tes- tudinina. A large part of the first and all of the second volume is taken up in the consid- eration of the whole subject of North Ameri- can testudinata, with numerous illustrations. The above are the principal systems of her- petology, and are sufficient to show the pro- gress of this branch of zoology, and its gradual approach toward a natural method of classifi- cation. Those who wish to pursue the subject into its details are referred to the list of au- thors in the work of Dumeril and Bibron, and in the foot notes to the essay of Prof. Agassiz. HEERERA, Fernando de, a Spanish poet, born in Seville in 1534, died in 1597. Although he was an ecclesiastic, many of his verses are amatory effusions addressed to a lady, said to have been the countess of Gelves, whom he celebrates under the names of Estella, Eliodo- ra, and Aglae. He was a friend of Cervantes and of the painter Pacheco. His best poems are mostly sonnets, odes, and elegies. An edition of his works was published at Seville in 1582. His principal prose works are Rela- tion de la guerra de Chipre y suceso de la batalla de Lepanto (Seville, 1572), and Vida y muerte de Tomas Moro (1592). HERRERA. I. Francisco dc, the elder, a Spanish painter, born in Seville in 1576, died in Madrid in 1656. He was a pupil of Luis Fernandez. By the boldness and spirit of his drawing and the clearness of his coloring he virtually found- ed a new school. His most noted picture is the "Last Judgment" in the church of St. Ber- nard in Seville. His "Holy Family" and " Outpouring of the Holy Spirit," in the church of St. Inez, and his frescoes in the cupola of St. Bonaventura, are also masterpieces. In his old age he went to Madrid, and painted in the cloister of la Merced Calzada several scenes from the life of San Ramon. He excelled in painting fairs and market scenes, and etched several plates from his own compositions. He