AMPHIBIA. 



AMPHIBIA. 



174 



a longitudinal white stripe. In winter without a crest, and much 

 resembling the female. 



female. No crest ; lower edge of the tail orange. 



Young. Olive-brown with a sulphureous dorsal line; abdomen 

 orange, spotted with black ; lower edge of the tail orange-red. 



This is the Lacerta palwtris of Linnaeus ; Salamandm aquatica, 

 of Ray ; Salamandra crietata of Schneider, Daudin, &e. ; Triton 

 paluttris of Fleming; Salamandra platycauda of Rusconi; Molge of 

 Merrett ; Molge palustris of Merrem ; Grosse Wasser-Salamandcr and 

 ^ a in i :f -Salamander of Bechstein; Warty Lizard of Pennant ; Common 

 Warty Neict and Great Water-Netttt of the British. 



It is ditributed over the whole of Europe, and is found in western 

 and northern Asia. 



Habits. The ponds and ditches of this country abound with this 

 the largest British Newt, and a most voracious animal it is. Aquatic 



Triton eristatut, male, in the spring season, seen from above. 



Tritun eriitattu, female, in the act of compressing a turned leaf npon her 

 Included eirg. The leaves folded back represent those in which eggs have 

 already been thus laid. (Uusconi.) 



insects, and indeed any small living animals which come in its way, 



are unsparingly devoured. It m a great destroyer of tadpoles, and 



Ciller Water-Newt (Lisotritirnpimctatu) frequently fall* a victim 



'ru.jt,y and voracity. Mr. Bell has taken thorn more than once 



in the act of swallowing an individual of the smaller species, which 



was so large as to occasion great difficulty and delay in the act of 

 deglutition. In swimming, the legs are turned backwards to lessen 

 resistance, and the animal is propelled principally by the tail. Every 

 one has observed the Newts, or Efts, as they are called in many places, 

 floating motionless at the surface of the water, with their limbs 

 extended at right angles with the body, and their toes spread out. 

 Their progression at the bottom of the water, and on land, is per- 

 formed creepingly with their small and weak feet. 



Generation. For our knowledge of this subject we are chiefly 

 indebted to the observations of Rusconi. Mr. Bell, in his work on 

 ' British Reptiles,' has confirmed most of Rusconi's observations, and 

 also added some of his own. 



Rusconi enters into minute details of the actions of the male from the 

 time of its first pursuit of the female to the period of fecundation, for 

 which we refer the reader to the work itself. (' Amours des Salamaudres 

 Aquatiques, et Developement du Tetard de ces Salamandres depuis 

 1'CEuf jusqu' a 1'Animal Parfait," Milan, 1821.) Prior to the time of 

 depositing her eggs, the female remains immoveable ; at last she moves, 

 and slowly goes in search of a plant proper for receiving her eggs, 

 choosing almost always, when present, the Polygonwn Persicaria. She 

 first approaches her head to the edges of a leaf, and turns it with her 

 snout in such a way that the lower surface of the leaf, which was towards 

 the bottom, is turned towards her breast : then with her fore-paws she 

 passes the turned leaf beneath her belly, seizes it with her hind-paws, 

 and conducts it beneath the vent, folding it at the same time, and 

 forming with it an angle the opening of which is directed towards the 

 tail. The egg in escaping from the vent would thus pass through the 

 middle of the angle formed by the leaf, but the salamander stops it 

 in its fall by her hind-feet, shuts up this angle with them, and thus 

 forms in the leaf a fold in which the egg is held. Still on the removal 

 of the feet the egg would fall to the bottom of the water ; but the 

 careful parent, before she quits the leaf, folds it so firmly with her 

 hind-feet that the gluten with which the envelope of the egg is 

 surrounded spreads from the pressure on the two internal surfaces of 

 the leaf, and prevents the folds from opening. When several eggs 

 have been laid in this manner, in different leaves, the female remains 

 quiet until another male comes to caress her. Rusconi did not 

 ascertain how long the period of laying continued ; but he found eggs 

 as early as the middle of April and as late as the middle of July. 



The following figures, given by the same author, exhibit the several 

 stages of the evolution of the egg which was kept on its proper leaf : 

 these stages are denoted by the dates of the days on which the 

 drawings were made. Thus, the figure marked 23rd April shows the 

 egg of its natural size, and the figure below it the same magnified. 



April 23. April 26. April 28. April 30. 



The temperature of the water during the period of Rusconi's obser- 

 vations varied from 22" to 27 Centigrade (71'6 to 80-6 Fahr.) The 

 globule in the centre of the ovum is white with a yellow tint, and is 

 environed with a glairy matter, to which it is not attached, so that it 

 can move freely in every direction. Its envelope is membranous, of 

 glassy transparence, and covered with a very clear viscid matter : the 

 specific gravity of this matter appears to be less than that of the 

 globule. In three days the globule had undergone the change 

 exhibited at April 26. Under the microscope may be observed in the 

 embryo the commencement of the parts which are to become the 

 head, the belly, and the tail. The globule at first becomes enlarged, 

 then elongated, and its previously smooth surface presents some 

 small eminences. If it has not been fecundated, or has lost its prolific 

 power, it enlarges, nevertheless, during the first days, as in ordinary 

 cases, but afterwards changes so as to resemble a vesicle half filled 

 with water : when this appearance comes on, the egg has lost its 

 vitality. 



On the 28th of April (fifth day) the embryo has grown so long that 

 it becomes bent in order to accommodate itself to the circumscribed 

 envelope. Now the head, abdomen, and tail are easily distinguishable, 

 and near the head (the larger extremity) small elevations (the rudi- 

 ments of gills and fore-feet) are perceptible. These parts become 

 more apparent by the 30th, when in the concave side of the embryo 



