CHAP TH 2LY. 
SALAMANDERS. 
HE order Caudata (Urodela), or the Tailed Batrachians, 
includes such animals as Salamanders and Newts, which 
are chiefly distinguished from Frogs and Toads by their 
elongated body, and by the retention of the tail throughout their 
life. Generally, these creatures possess four legs, but some- 
times the hind pair is wanting. Like the members of the order 
Ecaudata, or Tailless Batrachians, they undergo a metamorphosis, 
though not so complete a one. Some never lose their external 
gills at all. 
Most of the Caudata during a portion of their lives are inhabi- 
tants of the water. Some live in it altogether, others, when 
mature, only visit it during the breeding season. The Caudata 
are chiefly nocturnal in their habits, spending the daytime under 
stones, among aquatic weeds, in holes, or in crevices in trees and 
in rocks. When not in the water they frequent damp situations. 
As a rule, they all shun the direct rays of the sun. Most of 
them, more or less, under certain circumstances, exhibit wonder- 
ful tenacity of life. They are able to survive desiccation in 
parched mud or being frozen in blocks of ice, reviving in the one 
case after sufficient rain, and in the other after gradual heat. 
They have also the capability of reproducing lost limbs. This I 
have more than once witnessed. It is also recorded that certain 
