IQ2 OUR REPTILES. 



those who had maintained that the Palmate Newt 

 was only a variety of the common newt ; whilst Mr. 

 Bell had announced his belief in its being a species 

 entirely new to science. We believe that Mr. 

 Edward Newman first declared that it was specifi- 

 cally distinct from Lophinus punctatus, and, more- 

 over, that it was not " new to science," but was 

 really the true Palmated Newt. 



Five-and-twenty years ago, Mr. Holdsworth says, 

 in company with other small boys, he used to catch 

 black-footed newts in a pond near Dartmouth, in 

 Devonshire; the means of capture being of the 

 simplest kind, consisting of a bit of twine fastened 

 to a small bent pin, and a worm for bait. He had 

 since caught a great many of these newts, and three 

 years ago (1860) they were abundant in the same 

 pond. In 1863 he spent a few days in Hereford- 

 shire, and near the village of Letton, about twelve 

 miles from Hereford, had again the satisfaction of 

 seeing Lissotriton palmipes in abundance, although, 

 as far as he could ascertain, confined to one pond. 

 In this case, as well as at Dartmouth, L. palmijjes 

 was the only species to be found. A number of 

 specimens were sent by him to the Zoological Gar- 

 dens, and at a meeting of the Zoological Society 

 specimens were exhibited.* Its habits do not ap- 



* See "Proceedings of Zool. Soc, 1863," p. 159 



