254 



INEZ WHIPPLE WILDER. 



secondarily adapted themselves perfectly to aquatic life at the 

 bottom of the water, the lungless condition unfits an amphibian 

 for a prolonged stay in the water. If further evidence on this 

 point is desired one has only to drop living specimens of Diemyc- 

 tylus vindescens and Desmognathus ftisca into a deep aquarium 

 and compare their behavior! 



The lungless salamanders show, however, varying grades of 

 environmental adaptation, from Spelerpes ruber above cited as a 

 perfectly aquatic form, to Plethodon cinereus, which is completely 



FIG. 2. Photograph of a typical habitat ol Desmognathus fusca, as it appears in 

 late autumn, when the water in the little brook is for the most part covered with 

 fallen leaves, which serve as a protection to both the larvae and the adults. 



terrestrial even during its larval life, while the extreme is reached 

 in the case of Antodax hignbris, reported by Ritter and Miller 

 ('99) to be practically arboreal throughout its entire life. 



Desmognathus fusca is terrestrial to the extent that it lives in 

 and upon moist earth, where it mates and lays its eggs, and 



