ise SALAMANDRADA. 
The aquatic progression of these animals is effected prin- 
cipally by means of the tail; and during the act of swim- 
ming, the legs are turned backwards, so as to admit of the 
smallest possible degree of resistance; when floating quite 
still on the surface of the water, which they frequently do, 
the feet are stretched out at right angles to the body, and 
the toes spread as widely as possible; and at the bottom 
of the pond they creep by means of their little weak feet, 
which also serve for their progression on land. 
In the early spring the distinction between the males 
and the females in external form, which during the winter 
had been slight and inconspicuous, becomes more decided. 
The dorsal crest, which in this species is high and deeply 
incised, and the superior and inferior membrane of the tail, 
become developed to a remarkable degree. The male 
seeks and follows the other sex; and the tail of the former 
is vibrated, and, as it were, smacked, by a motion similar 
to that of smacking a whip, several times during’only a few 
moments. Rusconi asserts, and he has been followed by 
most subsequent writers, that impregnation is effected 
without contact; but I have reasons, which it is unneces- 
sary for me to detail here, for believing this to be a mis-— 
take, at least in some species. It is sufficient for me to 
state that those reasons are the result of my own repeated 
observations. The manner in which the eggs are deposited 
is very interesting and curious. The female, selecting some 
leaf of an aquatic plant, sits, as it were, upon its edge ; and 
folding it by means of her two hinder feet, deposits a single 
egg in the duplicature of the folded part of the leaf, which 
is thereby glued most securely together, and the egg is 
thus effectually protected from injury. The manner in 
which this is effected is highly interesting, and may be 
readily observed by any one, as the animals are sufliciently 
