380 THE VIVARIUM. 
those which have already been described by the possession of a 
bony fronto-squamosal arch to the skull instead of a ligamentous 
one, except JZ. cristata, which has not one at all. It has gained 
its specific name from the fact that the male, during the breeding- 
season, is provided with toes which are fully webbed. 
Until comparatively recently, this interesting Newt was con- 
fused with. IZ. vulgaris. Mr. W. Baker, of Bridgwater, in 1843, 
was, I believe, the first to discover that the Palmate Newt was a 
native of Great Britain. About five years later, Mr. J. Wooley 
gave an account in the Zoologist (p. 2,149) of his finding this 
Batrachian in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. Since then it 
has been taken in many other parts of Scotland, and also in 
numerous localities of England. Mr. Bell, in his “ British 
Reptiles,” says that “ the first intimation we have of this species 
as distinct is in the ‘Histoire Naturelle du Jorat’ of M. Razou- 
mowski.” 
I have found this species of Newt to be very common in 
Devonshire, particularly in the neighbourhood of Dartmoor. I 
have generally taken it in the company of the Common Newt 
(M. vulgaris), but I have no charge of cannibalism to bring 
against the larger animal. 
The Palmate Newt lives exceedingly well in confinement, and 
will often feed readily, even upon the day of its capture. 
In England, MZ. palmata has been taken in the West of 
Lancashire, in Cheshire, in South-west of Yorkshire, in Notting- 
hamshire, in Hereford, in Dorsetshire, in Devonshire, in Corn- 
wall, and in other parts. It is also a native of the Isle of Wight. 
On the Continent it is found in France, Belgium, Holland, 
Switzerland, West Germany, and the North of Spain. 
M. palmata has the *‘ body quadrangular in the breeding male, 
a more or less developed cutaneous fold bordering each side; a 
low, entire, vertebral crest; in the female the body is nearly 
round, with low vertebral ridge, as in MW. vulgaris. Limbs 
moderate ; fingers and toes depressed, the latter fully webbed in 
the breeding male; two small carpal and tarsal tubercles ; tail a 
little longer than head and body, strongly compressed during 
the breeding season, and with an upper and lower crest; the 
male’s tail truncate and ending in a filament, this filament 
