158 DISCOGLOSSID^E. 



of July, sometimes as late as September, as observed 

 by Pfli'iger near Bonn. Specimens from Belgium kept 

 by me in confinement were still pairing on August 

 18th, and Mr. A. Pam informs me that some brought 

 home by him this summer from Switzerland were ob- 

 served in embrace as late as October 13th. 



Mehely found spawn as early as the 2nd of May in 

 Transylvania. Spallanzani, in the last century, ob- 

 served it pairing in May in the mountains near 

 Modena, and he tells us that during his journey to 

 Switzerland in 1779 the same species was pairing in 

 July and August. I have myself observed it in 

 embrace in the end of May near Salzburg and near 

 Bordeaux, and spawning in Belgium in June and 

 July. Two years ago, around Freiburg in Baden, the 

 breeding* 1 seemed to be over in the beginning; of 

 August. On the whole, as observed by Werner, this 

 species appears to breed a little later than its con- 

 gener ; near Vienna, where the two occur, the season 

 has been observed by that authority to begin in the 

 first half of May for B. igneus, in the second half of 

 the same month for B, pachypus. The eggs are 

 usually attached to weeds as in the other species ; 

 but as they are sometimes laid in puddles without any 

 trace of vegetation, they then simply drop to the 

 bottom. The lack of vegetation is no hindrance to 

 the development of the larvas, which are mainly car- 

 nivorous. Recently transformed young were found 

 by Schrank in the last century in the salt water of 

 the saline caves of Berchtesgaden, Austria. 



These Batrachians hibernate on land in holes or 

 under stones. In early spring, in Belgium, I have 

 found several specimens together in their winter 

 quarters — deep recesses between stones, which they 

 shared with Salamandra maculosa. They do not 

 appear to emerge before the end of April, when they 

 travel considerable distances in search of suitable 

 breeding localities, breaking the journey in any small 

 temporary puddle they come across. I much doubt 



