When the larvae are hatched the gills are lost. The young larva takes to the water in a gill-less state, and moves about like an eel. At the bottom of the gill-hole on each side two arches are visible, and there are at this stage neither inner nor {92}outer gills. The larvae frequently come up to the surface to breathe. The eyes are large and clearly visible, but the tentacles are still undeveloped. The epidermal sense-organs are numerous, and appear as white spots in the grey skin; about fifty extend from the gill-opening to the tip of the tail. _Ichthyophis_ seems to live a long time in the larval state. At last the gill-clefts close, the tail-fin disappears, and the tentacles come to the surface. The whole skin assumes a totally new structure, and the fish-like larva turns into a burrowing, subterranean creature so terrestrial that it gets drowned when made to remain in the water. _Hypogeophis._–According to A. Brauer[44] three species of Coecilians are found in the Seychelles: _Cryptopsophis multiplicatus_, which is rare, _Hypogeophis rostratus_ and _H. alternans_. They live in moist ground, near the coast in swamps, higher up in humus, under rotten trees and rocks, down to the depth of one foot. In the island of Silhouette, Brauer found them in brooks, at least during the dry season, from May to September. The natives call them "vers de terre." They seem to propagate during the greater part of the year, provided there is sufficient moisture. The female coils round the eggs, which vary from half a dozen to thirty in number, those of _H. rostratus_ measuring 7-8 mm., those of _H. alternans_ only 4-5 mm. The embryos undergo their whole development in the egg. Four pairs of gill-clefts break through, the first between the hyoid and the first branchial arch, the fourth between the third and fourth branchial arches. There appears also a spiracular cleft between the quadrate and the hyoid arch; this cleft is, however, only developed dorsally, and persists for a shorter time. The external gills appear at the same time as the clefts, upon the first three branchial arches; the third gill is the latest, and remains in a vestigial condition covered up by the two others. The gills, of which the second is the longest, are not (as stated by the Sarasins) direct prolongations of the gill-arches, but they begin as button-like growths upon the arches. They begin to disappear with the absorption of the yolk, getting actually smaller. In embryos of 6 cm. they are 6 mm. long, while in embryos of 6.5 cm. they are reduced to 4.5 mm. in length. The {93}first to disappear is the third gill, of course by being resorbed; and the clefts are closed before the creature leaves the egg. _Hypogeophis_ not leading an aquatic larval life possesses no tail-fin in the embryonic state, the gill-holes are closed, and the epidermal sensory organs disappear long before the time of hatching.