June 1, 1SG6.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



131 



always fairly in the sight of visitors, and nearly 

 every part of it can be inspected. It never by any 

 chance shows any disposition to leave the water, 

 and the only part of its body which it exposes to 

 the air is the extreme tip of its nose (where its 

 nostrils are placed), when it comes up to the surface 

 to breathe at irregular intervals, varying from five 

 to thirty-five minutes. I can usually tell a little 

 while beforehand when it desires to breathe ; for 

 it then ceases to be quite so still as before, and 

 fidgets about a little, and slowly turns its head about 

 from side to side, or it slightly alters the position of 

 one or more of its four clumsy feet and fingers (it 

 frequently reposes with some of its limbs doubled 

 up under it awkwardly, palm upwards), and then 

 with great deliberation it moves slantingly upwards ; 

 and when its nostrils have reached the water's sur- 

 face, it expires through them a considerable amount 

 of vitiated air with a prolonged, subdued, but audible 

 sigh. It then takes in, through the same channel, a 

 fresh supply of air, but without making any sound, 

 and passes it into its lungs in a great wave, which 

 as it goes along largely distends the loose thin skin 

 or dewlap below the under jaw. It then retires 

 backwards into its hole in the same slow manner 

 that it advanced ; but in returning, and when below 

 the surface, it expels the superfluous air in bubbles, 

 through both the nostrils and the mouth, making 

 a slight pause to do so. 



Sometimes, but rarely, by daytime it makes a little 

 journey all round the tank, with occasional stoppages 

 by the way ; but it becomes really active only at 

 night, when it moves about in a restless manner, 

 backwards and forwards, with a motion surprisingly 

 quick for so slow a creature. Yet its motions are 

 apparently aimless, as regards the procuring of food, 

 which consists of living fishes, which swim about 

 the salamander's jaws unsuspectingly, and only when 

 the animal is hungry does it suddenly open its 

 enormous mouth (pale-yellow inside), at the same 

 time making a slight quick onward movement, and 

 swallowing whatever fishes are near, they being 

 swept in by the whirlpool caused by the swift open- 

 ing and closing of the mouth, and are then swallowed 

 and seen no more. Dull as this salamander seems 

 to be, it possesses a power of discriminating its 

 food ; for though in the course of a year it eats 

 several hundreds of fishes, consisting of carp, tench, 

 dace, barbel, minnows, gudgeon, and others (its most 

 favourite food of all being smelt and schnapel), it 

 will not take any which are too large or too hard to 

 be conveniently swallowed. Thus it does not touch 

 a pair of great gold-fish which have been with it for 

 a long time ; nor a rather large Silurus glanis, which 

 has been imprisoned with it for more than a year ; 

 nor one or two armour-plated sturgeons, nor some 

 small water tortoises of various sizes; but if it 

 does by chance seize any of these two last-named 

 hard animals, it speedily opens its mouth and 



lets them escape unhurt. When the seizure of 

 prey takes place below the surface of the water, 

 the resistance of the fluid prevents the jaws open- 

 ing and closing with such a marvellously quick 

 double motion, and with a loud snap like that of a 

 spring rat-trap, as that which takes place when the 

 prey is seized when quite at the water's surface, 

 and when, therefore, the jaws move through the 

 air only, without much resistance being offered 

 them. 



But since it has resided here with plenty of food 

 always around it, it is not so hungry as when it first 

 came, aud displays of voracity are now seldom. 



For about a w r eek after its getting out of the tank 

 and remaining on the dry floor of the room all night 

 —on August 7th, lSG-i— it could not properly sink 

 in the water, and remained partially floating on the 

 surface for some seconds after each inspiration of 

 air in breathing. It evidently could not get rid 

 of the wind it took in during its night's involun- 

 tary stay out of its element. 



There is one very curious thing about it. Its eyes 

 are very small, and are so much like the numerous 

 warts with which its skin is covered, that they 

 cannot be easily discerned ; and so long as they are 

 not apparent, the whole animal looks like an inert 

 mass of something not living. But as soon as the 

 eyes are made out, 'these eyes, small, dull, naked, 

 idless, and motionless as they are, instantly light 

 up the whole head and face of the animal with ex- 

 pressiveness. The expression is certainly of a stolid, 

 reptilian, and repulsive kind, but still it is an ex- 

 pression, and one which imparts a character and 

 aspect to the animal very different to what it would 

 have if it had no eyes at all, and quite dissimilar to 

 that which it has before the eyes are seen. Yet 

 they are so very small that the proportion they bear 

 to the creature's head is about the same as that 

 which a small pea bears to a 12-inch globe. A spe- 

 cimen of this animal lived at Leyden for more than 

 thirty years, and one now at Amsterdam has been 

 there for a long time. The Hamburg example was 

 presented by the Prussian Consul, Mr. Overbeck, 

 of Hong Kong. 



Feb. 1st. — Since writing the foregoing, Dr. J. G. 

 Fischer, of Hamburg, a great authority on animals 

 of the class to which the salamander belongs, tells 

 me that the specimens in the Regent's Park 

 Aquarium House, iu London, voluntarily leave the 

 water, sometimes ; but as far as I can remember, 

 both they, and the one other specimen (the first 

 one obtained) in the tank in the Python House in 

 Regent's Park, had precisely the same habits as 

 the Hamburg one. But in 1SG0 I had not the 

 same opportunities of observing as I now have, 

 especially at night ; and therefore I should be glad 

 to know anything of the habits of these salamanders 

 in Loudon, especially as to their leaving the water 

 1 occasionally or not. W. Alpord Lloyd. 



