THE SALAMANDER. 29 
a general manner is the presence of a tail during the whole stage of 
their existence. Nevertheless they are subject to the metamorphoses 
to which all the Amphibians submit. ‘The division, therefore, of 
Reptiles,” says Professor Rymer Jones, “into such as undergo meta- 
morphoses and such as do not, is by no means philosophical, although 
convenient to the zoologist, for all Reptiles undergo a metamorphosis, 
although not to the same extent. In the one the change from the 
aquatic to the air-breathing animal is never fully accomplished ; in 
the tailed Amphibian the change is accomplished after the embryo 
has escaped from the ovum.” 
Salamanders have had the honour of appearing prominently in 
fabulous narrative. The Greeks believed that they could live in 
fire, and this error obtained credence so long, that even now it has 
not been entirely dissipated. Many people are simple enough to 
believe from the Greek tradition that these innocent animals are 
fire-proof. The love of the marvellous, fostered and excited by 
ignorant appeals to superstition, has gone even further than this: it 
has been asserted that hottest fire becomes extinguished when a 
Salamander is thrown into it. In the Middle Ages this notion was 
held by most people, and it would have been dangerous to gainsay 
it. Salamanders were necessary animals in the conjurations of 
sorcerers and witches ; accordingly painters, among their symbolical 
emblems, represented Salamanders. as capable of resisting successfully 
the most powerful heat. However, natural sts and philosophers have 
taken the trouble to prove by experiment the absurdity of these 
tales. 
The skull of the Land or Spotted Salamander (Sa/amandra 
maculosa, Fig. 9) is well described by Cuvier as being nearly cylin- 
drical, wider in front so as to form the semi-circular face, and also 
behind for the crucial branches, containing the internal ears. The 
cranium of the aquatic Salamander differs from the terrestrial in 
having the entire head more oblong. 
In the Land Salamander the body is black and warty, with large 
irregular yellow spots distributed over the head, back, sides, feet, and 
tail. They affect retired and moist places, and only issue from their 
retreat in the night or morning, walking slowly, and dragging them- 
selves with difficulty along the surface of the ground. They live 
upon flies, beetles, snails, and earth-worms. They remain in the 
water to deposit their eggs; the young are born alive, and furnished 
with fully-developed gills. Salamanders are gifted with the power of 
discharging an acrid and milky humour from the surface of its body, 
with a very strong odour, which serves as a defence against animals 
