BAniACIIIA. 



311 



ly submerged for at least twenty hours, and had no sooner placed it on the table 

 before it began to ojien its big mouth, vigorously sway its tail to and fro, and give 

 other undoubted signs of vitality. 



" On another occasion, desiring to kill one of these creatures, which had been out of 

 water for a day, I made a little slit in the back, hoping to be able to penetrate be- 

 tween the cervical vertebrae with a stout scalpel, and cut the 

 spinal cord. After several trials, in which I succeeded only in 

 breaking the scalpel, I gave up the attempt ; but with all my 

 cutting and pushing, it manifested not the slightest signs of 

 pain or irritation, while if I but touched the tip of its tail with 

 my finger, it would make a vigorous protest by lashing its tail 

 and snapping its jaws. I doubt if even the redoubtable snapping turtle could show 

 signs of a more ' rugged ' constitution." 



If,. 178.— Larva of Amllys- 

 totna puiictatum. 





Aml'h/ stoma tigr, 



The 3Iegalobatrachus maximus, of Jaj)an and Thibet, is the largest living batra- 

 chian, reaching a length of three feet. It resembles its American ally in proportions 

 and in color. 



The family Amblystomid^ includes the genera Ambh/stomu, Hatrachyperus, 

 Ranidens, iSakanandrella, and JLjnohius. The first named is characteristic of North 

 America and Mexico, where fifteen species are found, and Siam, where a single spe- 

 cies, ^4. /)ers«wj7«s, has been discovered. The Amblystomata vary in size from only 

 two inches in length (^-1. conspersimi), to a foot in length (-1. tenebrosum). The 

 species prefer damp climates. Thus five of them are found on the Pacific coast, and 

 ten east of the plains, while but a single species ranges over tlie intervening dry 

 region of the plains and the Great basin. This one is the A. tujrlnuni (Fig. 179) 

 which ranges over the entire continent, and southward on the Mexican plateau as far 



