104 SALAMANDRA FASCIATA. 



lower of similar colour, but lighter. The body is also palest ash colour above, 

 marked with irregular blotches of bluish-black placed transversely, and the abdomen 

 is uniform indigo blue; the tail is pale ash colour on its superior surface, and 

 marked with transverse bars of bluish-black. 



Habits. This is a true land Salamander, and one of the most beautiful of the 

 genus; I have kept them alive for many months in a box' filled with meadoAv 

 moss, (sphagnum,) which was occasionally moistened; and it was remarkable that 

 they always chose the superior surface of the moss for their resting place, while 

 their fellow prisoner, the Salamandra venenosa, was always found deeply buried. 



Geographical Distribution. Professor Green first observed this animal in 

 New Jersey; Dr. Blanding afterwards saw it at Camden, in South Carolina; 

 Dr. Binney very recently discovered it in Georgia; Professor Hitchcock found it 

 in Massachusetts, and furnished my friend, Dr. Storer, of Boston, with the fine 

 specimen from which the accompanying plate was taken; Dr. M'Murtrie says it 

 is common in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia; in the western states, I have at 

 this moment but one locality to give. Marietta, in Ohio, from which place Dr. 

 Hildreth sent specimens to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia; yet, 

 doubtless, it is common throughout the west. 



General Remarks. The Salamandra fasciata was first observed, and accurately 

 described by Professor Green, of Philadelphia, who has done so much to elucidate 

 the history of this obscure family of reptiles; and it is remarkable that so large 

 and beautiful an animal should so long have escaped the observation of our 

 Herpetologists. 



