302 . POPULAR HISTORY OF THE AQUARIUM. 



the stomach when opened, sometimes crushed, but always 

 empty. They feed too on the young of their own species 

 as well as of the smooth species, which is considerably 

 smaller. The following experiments and observations are, 

 among others, recorded by Mr. Higginbotham in the twelfth 

 volume of the ' Annals of Natural History .'' 



" I kept a little male Newt, Lissotriton pimctatus, in a 

 basin of clear water, quite alone. 



"The markings of the skin of this Newt at this time 

 were bright and distinct, and the dorsal crest was deep. 

 At eight o^clock on the morning of the 30th, I noticed 

 that it was particularly dull, and would scarcely move on 

 being touched, and I feared it was going to die from its 

 confinement and want of food ; it was very thin, but its 

 epidermic covering had undergone no change, and its sum- 

 mer dress was as bright as ever. Upon again looking at 

 the little animal at eleven o'clock, I found that it had 

 assumed the colours and form of the Newt in winter, ap- 

 proximating those of the female, and in the water its entire 

 exuvium was floating about, so thin and transparent as to 

 look a mere film, but still quite perfect, excepting the fissure 

 by which the body had emerged. 



"The Newt was now of a brown colour, and the black 



