SALAMANDERS. 265 



bones of the limbs detached from their principal 

 articulation, and remaining suspended by some 

 points which still caused them to adhere to the 

 flesh, were found completely consolidated in a 

 few days. The most extraordinary observation 

 was that consequent on the total extirpation 

 of the eye, w^hich was entirely reproduced and 

 perfectly organized at the end of a year. Dufay 

 has recorded their faculty of remaining frozen 

 up in ice for a long period without perishing." 



An experiment by M. Dumerii, remarkably 

 shewed the tenacity of life in these Reptiles. 

 A Triton, deprived of its head, lived for three 

 months, in evident consciousness of existence, 

 w^alking cautiously, and occasionally coming to 

 the surface of the water ; though deprived of 

 the organs of every sense, except that of touch. 



The Urodela are found in all the temperate 

 and w^arm regions of the globe. They are all 

 comprised in a single Family. 



Family I. Salamandrad^. 



(^Salamanders.) 



We need not repeat the distinctive characters 

 of this Family, as these have already been enume- 

 rated in our account of the Order Urodela, with 

 which it is co-extensive. They are for the most 

 part animals of small size, rarely exceeding a 

 few inches in length : the Gigantic Salamander 

 {Sieboldtia maxima, Bonap.), however, recently 

 found in the mountain lakes of Japan, is three 

 feet long. This species, a specimen of w^hich 

 was brought alive to Europe, feeds on fishes ; 

 but the ordinary prey of the Salamanders, both 



