248 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



of watercourses produce a decrease in these respects ; 

 further, a special increase of yellow colour and its in- 

 tensity takes place on a clay soil, while, on the other hand, 

 the reverse obtains on black humus. A study which 

 the writer has made of the varieties of the species, in 

 relation to its geographical distribution, has failed to 

 confirm the views of Kammerer, and, therefore, further 

 experiments in connection with this interesting subject 

 are to be desired. 



The Spotted Salamander spends the greater part of its 

 existence hidden in holes in the ground, which it leaves, as 

 a rule, only at night, or in the daytime just before or after 

 thunderstorms, when incredible numbers may appear, 

 crawling about in search of earthworms. The young, ten 

 to forty in number, are born in the larval state, with large 

 external gills, and small but well-developed limbs, and 

 are deposited in brooks and springs, mostly during the 

 months of March, April, and May. The female does not 

 actually enter the water for the purpose of releasing her 

 young, but merely takes a hip-bath, returning to her under- 

 ground retreat immediately the operation is over. The 

 larvae, which are under an inch in length at birth, leave the 

 water after about six months, when two to three inches in 

 length. Their growth on land is slow, as they do not reach 

 their total length or become sexually mature until nearly 

 four years after their birth. 



Provided not more than three or four specimens are kept 

 together in a cage, this salamander does fairly well in 

 captivity ; if several, however, are placed together they 

 very soon become covered all over with fungoid growths, 

 from which they never recover. 



The average sized Spotted Salamander measures five 



