What is "siren lacertina"

Siren \Si"ren\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ???: cf. F. sir[`e]ne.]

1. (Class. Myth.) One of three sea nymphs, -- or, according to some writers, of two, -- said to frequent an island near the coast of Italy, and to sing with such sweetness that they lured mariners to destruction.

   Next where the sirens dwell you plow the seas; Their song is death, and makes destruction please.
   --Pope.

2. An enticing, dangerous woman.
   --Shak.

3. Something which is insidious or deceptive.

   Consumption is a siren.
   --W. Irving.

4. A mermaid. [Obs.]
   --Shak.

5. (Zo["o]l.) Any long, slender amphibian of the genus Siren or family Sirenid[ae], destitute of hind legs and pelvis, and having permanent external gills as well as lungs. They inhabit the swamps, lagoons, and ditches of the Southern United States. The more common species ( Siren lacertina) is dull lead-gray in color, and becames two feet long.

6. [F. sir[`e]ne, properly, a siren in sense 1.] (Acoustics) An instrument for producing musical tones and for ascertaining the number of sound waves or vibrations per second which produce a note of a given pitch. The sounds are produced by a perforated rotating disk or disks. A form with two disks operated by steam or highly compressed air is used sounding an alarm to vessels in fog. [Written also sirene, and syren.]

Mud \Mud\ (m[u^]d), n. [Akin to LG. mudde, D. modder, G. moder mold, OSw. modd mud, Sw. modder mother, Dan. mudder mud. Cf. Mother a scum on liquors.] Earth and water mixed so as to be soft and adhesive. Mud bass (Zo["o]l.), a fresh-water fish ( Acantharchum pomotis or Acantharchus pomotis) of the Eastern United States. It produces a deep grunting note. Mud bath, an immersion of the body, or some part of it, in mud charged with medicinal agents, as a remedy for disease. Mud boat, a large flatboat used in dredging. Mud cat. See mud cat in the vocabulary. Mud crab (Zo["o]l.), any one of several American marine crabs of the genus Panopeus. Mud dab (Zo["o]l.), the winter flounder. See Flounder, and Dab. Mud dauber (Zo["o]l.), a mud wasp; the mud-dauber. Mud devil (Zo["o]l.), the fellbender. Mud drum (Steam Boilers), a drum beneath a boiler, into which sediment and mud in the water can settle for removal. Mud eel (Zo["o]l.), a long, slender, aquatic amphibian ( Siren lacertina), found in the Southern United States. It has persistent external gills and only the anterior pair of legs. See Siren. Mud frog (Zo["o]l.), a European frog ( Pelobates fuscus). Mud hen. (Zo["o]l.)

1. The American coot ( Fulica Americana).

2. The clapper rail.

   Mud lark, a person who cleans sewers, or delves in mud.

   Mud minnow (Zo["o]l.), any small American fresh-water fish of the genus Umbra, as Umbra limi. The genus is allied to the pickerels.

   Mud plug, a plug for stopping the mudhole of a boiler.

   Mud puppy (Zo["o]l.), the menobranchus.

   Mud scow, a heavy scow, used in dredging; a mud boat.

   Mud turtle, Mud tortoise (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of fresh-water tortoises of the United States.

   Mud wasp (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of hymenopterous insects belonging to Pep[ae]us, and allied genera, which construct groups of mud cells, attached, side by side, to stones or to the woodwork of buildings, etc. The female places an egg in each cell, together with spiders or other insects, paralyzed by a sting, to serve as food for the larva. Called also mud dauber.