NEWTS AND SALAMANDERS 137 



deposit their eggs. The tiger salamander is variable in 

 colour. Generally of a dark brown, it is marked with 

 irregular yellow blotches, and is commonly met with under 

 stones and in decayed hollow trees. At the time when the 

 Spanish conquerors landed in Mexico, the natives were in 

 the habit of eating roasted or boiled fresh-water creatures, 

 which they called " axolotls." It is now known that these 

 axolotls are nothing but the larval forms of the tiger sala- 

 mander, which is found from Mexico to the city of New York. 

 Under certain conditions, the larva, instead of losing its gills 

 and turning into the terrestrial salamander, retains them, 

 and continues its existence in the medium in which it was 

 born, growing into a creature somewhat resembling the hell- 

 bender, and breeding without leaving the water. 



The genus Amblystoma is almost confined to Mexico, the 

 United States and Canada. Only one species (A. persimile), 

 which most resembles Amblystoma jeffersonianum of the eastern 

 States and Canada, inhabits the far distant mountains of Siam 

 and Upper Burmah. This represents, therefore, another 

 example of that curious relationship between eastern North 

 America and Asia. In this case, however, it is with southern 

 instead of eastern Asia, while the genus in North America occurs 

 in the south-west as well as in the eastern States. 



Several smaller kinds of newts have been observed in 

 the eastern States. Among them there are several belong- 

 ing to the genus Spelerpes, which are worthy of special com- 

 ment. They all display remarkably brilliant colours, and 

 these make them more attractive than salamanders usually 

 are. Quite apart from this feature, their method of feeding 

 is interesting to watch. Like chameleons, they possess an 

 enormously long tongue, ending in a soft sticky knob, which 

 is shot out of the mouth with extreme rapidity at any insect 

 coming within range and likely to be a dainty morsel. About 

 twenty species of Spelerpes are known to science, the head- 

 quarters of the genus being in Mexico. Dr. Gadow* dis- 

 covered several of them at considerable heights. Spelerpes 

 orizabensis and S. leprosus ascend to 12,000 feet, and S. 

 chiropterus to 10,000 feet, above sea-level. 



* Gadow, H., " Mexican Amphibians and Beptiles," p. 203. 



