156 OUR REPTILES. 



Kinahan dissents, and observes that he has seen the 

 ova of the smooth newt deposited in strings of from 

 four to six about the roots of aquatic plants, and 

 that such ova he has hatched. Our own observa- 

 tions confirm those of Mr. Kinahan, as we have seen 

 them deposited in similar strings or chains, on 

 stones, &c, but have never attempted to preserve or 

 place them in conditions for hatching. Three of 

 the species of newt herein recorded are said to be 

 inhabitants of Ireland, and of these the present 

 species is most common. The warty newt is more 

 doubtful, and the palmated newt was found by Mr. 

 Thompson in the western wilds. There is no doubt 

 that all are condemned to death as soon as they 

 meet the eye of a thorough-going Irishman. 



In a paper by Mr. Kinahan, read before the 

 Dublin Natural History Society (Feb. 10, 1854), 

 the superstitions regarding these reptiles hold a 

 conspicuous place. " In almost every part of the 

 country we find these animals," he says, " looked on 

 with disgust and horror, if not with dread. This 

 arises from two superstitions : one of them, common 

 to great part of Ireland, relating chiefly to the 

 animal in its aquatic state, and which in the county 

 of Dublin has earned for it the names of Man-eater 

 and Man-keeper ; though the ' dry ask ' of the 

 county of Dublin — that is, the animal in its terres- 

 trial stage — is supposed to be equally guilty with 



