162 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
With but few exceptions the mature batrachians differ from 
the reptiles in the total absence of scales. Their naked, usually 
slimy skin at once defines them to the novice. The few scaled 
species indicate their scalation only upon close examination, and 
beneath the shining skin may be discerned a fine dermal texture. 
No species among the local batrachians possesses scales. 
In our local fauna, two orders of the Batrachia are represented. 
These are the Urodela, comprising Salamanders and Newts, and 
the Salientia, or Tailless Batrachians (the Toads and Frogs). 
SALAMANDERS. 
Order Urodela. 
The salamanders and the newts may be easily recognized by 
their lizard-like form, but even the novice may at once distin- 
guish them from true lizards by their moist or slimy, naked skin, 
totally devoid of scales. Many of the semi-aquatic species, how- 
ever, are actually known in the regions they inhabit as water 
“hizards:” 
The majority of the local species begin life, like the frogs and 
toads, as tadpoles, hatching from opaque eggs which are de- 
posited in streams and ponds. Unlike the frog larva however, 
the tadpole of the salamander retains throughout the larval state 
external gills, arranged in three tufts on each side of the head. 
These gills are delicately fringed and enable the young creature 
to lead a fish-like existence. The presence of these organs 
enables the observer to distinguish at a glance the larvee of the 
salamanders and newts from those of the frogs and toads. Apart 
from the gills, however, the salamander tadpoles differ from the 
tailless batrachians in the development of the limbs. The front 
limbs are the first to appear, an external character quite reversed 
among the frog larve. Though the development with the latter 
is the same as with the salamanders, the growth of the front 
limbs goes on under cover of the operculum, while the hind limbs 
are attaining external development. When the front limbs attain 
their growth, they push their way suddenly through the folds of 
the operculum and into view. 
A few of the local salamanders, represented by the genera 
