THE SEXUAL ELEMENTS OF THE GIANT SALA- 

 MANDER, CRYPTOBRANCHUS ALLEGHENIENSIS. 



ALBERT M. REESE. 



In the spring and early summer of 1902, the author made 

 strenuous efforts to obtain embryological material for investigating 

 the development of the hellbender (CryptobraiiclinsAllcgJicniaisis}. 

 These unsuccessful efforts have been described in an article en- 

 titled "The Habits of the Giant Salamander." l 



In the fall of 1903, another effort was made to obtain the de- 

 sired material, and a dozen or more live hellbenders were ob- 

 tained as the result of a trip to the region of the Allegheny River, 

 in western Pennsylvania. 



These animals were all about the same size, 45 cm. in length, 

 and were sent by express from their native stream to Syracuse, 

 N. Y. 



Upon opening the box, in which they were shipped, after its 

 arrival in Syracuse, a number of eggs were found scattered through 

 the grass that had been placed there to protect the animals dur- 

 ing their trip. There seemed to be no difference in the colora- 

 tion of the males and females, and the only way in which they 

 could be distinguished was by the fact that, in the males, the 

 lips of the cloaca were considerably swollen by the enlargement 

 of an elongated mass of glandular tissue on each side. 



In handling one of the ripe females of this lot of hellbenders, 

 the author was bitten on the thumb ; this was the only time in 

 which any attempt to bite had been noticed, though many dozen 

 animals had been handled at many different times. The bite 

 was not at all serious, being merely a painful pinch which 

 scarcely broke the skin. In removing one of the females from 

 the box in which they had arrived, an egg, enclosed in its jelly- 

 like envelope, was seen protruding from the cloaca. By gently 

 pulling this extruded egg, it was found that a whole string of 

 eggs could be drawn from the cloaca, without apparently injur- 

 ing them in the least. 



1 I\>f>itlar Scii'iice Monthly, May, 1903. 



22O 



