58 JOURNAL OF THE [JubS 



proceeds to tuck the cast-off vestment into his chest. Ikit this is 

 not allowed by his two companions, so each one seizes a limb. 

 And now all three are pulling on the filmy thing, which in conse- 

 quence gets put away into three chests instead of one. 



It is noticeable how much brighter the colors are after exuvia- 

 tion. The crimson spots are very pronounced and the bronzy 

 green has more of a living hue. 



In some stained mounts of the Tiger Triton, Amblystoma tigri- 

 nu//i, kindly lent me by Rev. J. E. Peters, the cells generally 

 showed distinct nuclei. Although feeling my ignorance of their 

 significance, I would venture to remark : the Urodelce shed their 

 skin quite often, at least several times in the season. A person 

 told me that he had seen the Red Triton {Spelerpes ruber) in an 

 aquarium shed every month. He may possibly have exaggerated. 

 But would not the known frequency indicate a high-growing or 

 vegetative activity in the cuticle ? And has not the nucleated 

 cell a higher vital energy than that one whose protoplasm is all 

 simple or homogeneous ? Hence this earlier maturing of the 

 Triton's epiderm. So it is here as with the plants — the more 

 rapid the growth the sooner the effete stage is reached. 



Leaving these Batrachians, we now come to the Lacertilians, 

 or true lizards, the highest in rank of the Reptilia. Here, too, we 

 find this shedding of the skin, from the great Monitor of the 

 Nile to the little pine lizard that runs on the fence. 



I will first instance the so-called Horned Toad, the Phrynoso- 

 ina, which is a true lizard and no toad at all. The sharp- 

 pointed and spike-like projecting scales, which give to the inno- 

 cent little thing so formidable an aspect, make exuviation of the 

 cuticle in anything like large patches impossible. And so, ex- 

 cepting from the abdomen, which has none of these sharp pro- 

 jections, the cuticle is divested in small pieces and deliberately 

 stowed away. 



I wish here to narrate what was witnessed by a friend in the 

 Great Plains. The incident has a psychological interest, and, 

 as will appear, a physiological bearing on our subject. Owing 

 to its sluggishness in captivity the Phrynosoma is generally re- 

 garded as an utterly stupid creature. My friend saw a female 

 with her young, for which she manifested a striking maternal 

 regard. Alarmed by his presence, she put forth persistent efforts 



