Strecket — Notes on Habits of Tivo Arkansas Salamanders. 87 



largest example was almost twice the length of that of the six-inch speci- 

 men. At the time they were received I took measurements of the length 

 of head and body to vent of each of the three specimens, hut these records 

 have been lost. J. K. S.] After the salamanders had been in captivity 

 about twelve hours the female had deposited a total of 150 eggs. I kept 

 them three days longer in order to study their habits, and found them to 

 be stupid and sluggish. -If disturbed they would lie perfectly still and 

 make no attempt to move away, but their neighbors (Desmognathm) 

 would r.un at the slightest alarm. On the fourth day I packed them in 

 damp moss and forwarded them to Strecker. On the fifth day the eggs 

 began to shrivel up, but I poured more water in the box and in a few 

 hours they had resumed their normal condition. On, the tenth day the 

 young salamanders began to come out of the eggs. When first hatched 

 they were only about half an inch in length and were similar to larval 

 salamanders that I had seen in Strecker's collection. [Larvae of Ambys- 

 toma opacum, from Brimley, if I remember rightly. J. K. S.] I let them 

 remain in the box for a few hours and then released them in a moist place, 

 not far from where I had captured the parents." (Typewritten notes 

 dated June 25, 1895. ) 



Whether any of Combs' young salamanders survived or not is a ques- 

 tion. In late years Mr. Julius Hurter has twice visited Hot Springs in 

 quest of this species, but failed to find them on both occasions, although 

 he was provided with my data. From the above notes, and my study of 

 the living specimens, I have written the following conclusions: 



1. Five of the six recorded specimens of Amby stoma annulatum Cope 

 were found under the same log, in the woods near Hot Springs, Ark. 

 (The five of course including the dead specimen mentioned in Combs' 

 second letter.) 



2. The coloration in the living specimen is black and yellow, instead of 

 black and silver-gray as was suggested to Stejneger by the colors in the 

 preserved specimen. 



3. These salamanders inhabit the deserted burrows of crayfish and only 

 come to the surface when the ground is moist. 



4. They deposit their eggs on the ground, under logs or among masses 

 of decayed wood. 



5. The female keeps her eggs supplied with moisture until they are 

 hatched. I have no doubt but what she carries them down into the 

 ground, to the line of moisture, in exceedingly dry weather. (The ques- 

 tion of how the young salamanders are carried into the water or whether 

 they go into the water at all, I am unable to answer. ) 



6. The eggs are never in strings but are always separate, and as many 

 as 150 may be deposited by the same female. 



7. Combs has recorded the fact that his eggs hatched on the tenth day, 

 but I presume this depends entirely upon the amount of moisture they 

 receive. 



Combs sent me a few of these eggs. They were slightly over an eighth 

 of an inch in diameter and the embryos were well formed. (Incubation 



