NH^vT^,.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



I3J 



lity of confounding it with any other species, except 

 perhaps the Triton palmipes, of which the under 

 surface is saffron yellow, or, as Latreille states, white 

 without spots. The great water-newt is active and 

 voracious; it I'eeds during tlie spring and summer 

 on the tadpole of the fro?, and also upon the smaller 

 species of newt, which it attacks and seizes with the 

 utmost determination; it will also prey upon worms, 

 insects, and niollusks, and may be taken hy means 

 of a hook baited with a small worm. It swims 

 vigorously, lashing its compressed tail from side to 

 side, its limbs being so disposed as to oii'er no resist- 

 ance to the water ; we have seen it crawl slowly at 

 the bottom of clear ditches, its well as on the land, 

 where, however, its movements are inert. It hyber- 

 nates like the frog, generally in the mud at the 

 bottom of ponds and ditches. Mr. Bell however 

 states that he has found it hybernating under stones, 

 and we ourselves on one occasion, early in the spring, 

 saw several creeping out from under gome large 

 flags placed to suppoit a bank ; on taking up one by 

 the tail, as we well remember, the tail, to our dis- 

 mav, broke short off, and continued for some time to 

 be "lapi.lly agitated. On awaking from its lethargy 

 in the spring, the male begins to assume a mem- 

 branous dorsal and caudal crest, by which he is at 

 once distinguished from the female. The dor.sal 

 crest has its edge indented, but that along the IhII 

 lias the edge even ; with the completion of the crest 

 the colours become brighter and more decided, and 

 the animal is more lively and vigorous. At the 

 latter end of April and during the months of May 

 and .June, the female deposits her eggs, not as in the 

 case of the frog, in multitudes all agglutinated 

 together in a gelatinous medium, but one by one, 

 each in a distinct spot from the other. Resting on 

 the leaf of some aquatic plant, she folds it by means 

 of tier two hinder leet, and in the duplication of the 

 leaf thus made, deposits a single egg, gluing at the 

 same time the folded parts together, thus concealing 

 and protecting the enclosed deposit. This process 

 was first described by Rusconi, and has been mi- 

 nutely detailed by Mr. Bel! from personal observa- 

 tion. The membranous dorsal crest of the male 

 continues till autumn, when it is gradually absorbed ; 

 a trace, however, of the caudal crest still remains. 

 In this species, the upper lip is slightly pendulous, 

 the teeth are numerous and minute, a double longi- 

 tudinal series occurring on the palate ; the tongue 

 is semi-globular, slightly free at the sides, and 

 pointed behind ; the head is flattened, the bcdy 

 cylindrical, corrugated, and covered with minute 

 tubercles ; there are two patches of simple pores on 

 each side of the head, and a line of similar pores at 

 distant intervals along each side of the body. The 

 upper parts are dusky black or yellowish brown, 

 with darker round spots ; the under parts are orange 

 red, with round spots of black ; the sides are dotted 

 with white, and the sides of the tail are to a greater 

 or less extent of a silvery white. 



The Common Smooth Newt (Llssotrilon piinc- 

 tattis. Bell) differs con^derably in its habits from 

 the srreat water-newt. It is much more terrestrial, 

 frequenting damp places, and is often found in 

 ceilais and underground vaults. Shaw, indeed, in 

 his ' (leneral Zoology,' asserts that the common 

 neivt is altogether a terrestrial species, and contra- 

 dicts the statement of Linnseus that during its 

 tadpole condition it inhabits the water ; he says, " I 

 can sHlely affirm that I have met with specimens 

 in perfectly dry situations so extremely minute as 

 scarcely to equal half an inch in length, which 

 appear to differ in no respect, except in magnitude, 

 from the full-grown animal." We have seen the 

 game in damp cellars in abundance, and whatever 

 difficulties there may be in accounting for their 

 presence in such situations, they had doubtless been 

 previously in a tadpole condition, from which they 

 liad recently emerued. It is a query, however, 

 whether thev require as much water as the other 

 species, and whether they will not undergo their 

 change in extremely humid spots, where water 

 trickles freely about, and occasionally gushes up, as 

 well as in potids or ditches ; certainly the specimens 

 we have seen could not have crawled many yards; 

 they were pallid, and slow in their movements. The 

 common water-newt is found in clear ponds and 

 ditclifs ; ill the spring, the males appear ornamented 

 with a continuous merabianous crest from the head 

 down the back to the end of the tail ; this crest they 

 lose in the month of June or .July, when both adults 

 and young quit the water for the land, where they 

 creep almut, lodging in damp places, under stones, 

 and in crevices of the ground. Early in the winter, 

 Ihe crest of the male reajjpears, and is complete in 

 the beginning of tiiesprintr, at which time he assumes 

 a richer colouring. Aquatic insects and their larvae, 

 woims, &:c., constitute the food of this species. The 

 female deposits her eggs much in the same manner 

 tL» already described, generally within a folded leaf, 

 but not unfrefjuently at the junction of the leaf 

 with the stalk. Mr. Bell stales that he has some- 

 times Been the females in the act of placing their 



Vol. II. 



eggs not only singly, but by two, three, and four 



together. 



In the common newt the skin is smooth ; on the 

 head there are two rows of pores, but none on the 

 back or sides. The crest of the male is not only 

 much developed in the .spring, but the margin is 

 crenate, the tips of the crenations being sometimes 

 tinged with fine red, sometimes with violet ; the 

 general colour above is yellowish or brownish grey, 

 bright orange below, and everywhere marked with 

 dark spots, some of an ii regular figure. The female 

 is yellowish brown, with scattered spots, and without 

 the rich oranae of the under surface. The upper lip 

 is quite straight. Length, nearly four inches. 



The Straight-lipped Wafer-Newt (jT/i^oii Bibronil, 

 Bell) differs from the great water-newt in having 

 the upper lip perfectly straight, and not overhanging 

 the lower at its sides. Its skin also is more rugous 

 and strongly tuberculated, and its colour darker. 

 Habits the same as in T. cristatus. 



The Palmated Water-Newt {Lissotriton palmipes, 

 Bell) is allied to the common water newt, hom 

 which it differs in having the upper lip pendulous at 

 the sides, and the toes of the hind feet fringed per- 

 manently by a short membrane, which is seen in the 

 male of L. punctatus only during the brcedinsr sea- 

 son.— (See Fig. 2339- a, the Male; b, the Female.) 

 It is also of a larger size, and the spots are more 

 numerous and definite. The head also is marked 

 with brown longitudinal lines; like the common 

 species, however, which it resembles in its habits, it 

 is liable to some variations of markings. 



These animals are pro,vincirtlly termed efts, and 

 askers. The power which the Salaniandridit possess 

 of renewing the limbs and the tail when removed, 

 and that repeatedly in succession, is very surprising. 

 According to Bonnet, the reproduction of these 

 parts is favoured hy heat, and retarded by cold ; in 

 one instance, after the total extiipation of an eye,' 

 the organ was reproduced, and perfect in its struc- 

 ture at the end of a year. Dufay has recorded their 

 faculty of remaining frozen in ice fur a long period 

 without peiishing. Though we mention these ex- 

 periments, which are not without their physiological 

 importance, we would distinctly state that their 

 repetition for mere curiosity must be condemned as 

 wanton and unpardonable cruelty. 



234.1. — The Spotted Salamander 



{Sahmandra mnculusa). Spotted Land-Newt, a, 

 the Head in'protile. 



In the genus Salamandra the head is thick ; the 

 eyes large ; the gape of the mouth ample ; the 

 tongue broad; the palatine teeth arranged in two 

 long seiies; the parotid glands large; the body 

 sprinkled with many small glands. 



Unlike the aquatic newts the salamander is ovo- 

 viviparous, producing living young, which however 

 at first inhabit the water and there undergo the same 

 changes as do the Tritons; after the completion 

 of which they crawl upon the land, frequenting 

 humid places, and making their retreats among 

 decayed timber in wooded districts, in ditches, 

 shaded spots, and crumbling ruins. In its habits it 

 is sluggish and inert, and at the same lime timid 

 and retiring; it is impatient of the heat of the sun, 

 and seldom leaves its lurking-place, except during 

 rainy weather, or during the mglit. Its Ibod consists 

 of slugs, insects, and worms. As it increases in size 

 it sheds its cuticle, which is moulted in flakes, as 

 was observed by Dr. Barton. During the winter it 

 hyberuates in some hollow tree, or under stones or 

 piles of wood, re-appearing in the spring. From 

 the tuberculous glands of the skin exudes a milky 

 glutinous fluid of an acrid nature like that of the 

 toad, and which is evidently a defence against 

 enemies ; amongst which may be mentioned snakes 

 and large lizards. To try the effects of this fluid, 

 Laurenti provoked two grey lizards (Laceita mu- 

 ralis) to bite a salamander, when the latter ejected 

 from its pores some of this fluid into their mouths ; 

 one of the lizards died instantly, the other became 

 convulsed and died at the end of two minutes. 

 Some of the fluid was introduced into the mouth of 

 another lizard, which became convulsed, was para- 

 lytic on the whole of one side, and soon died. When 

 the animal is irritated this fluid is secreted in large 

 quantities, and is ejected, according to Dr. Barton, to 

 some distance. There is no reason to believe that 

 such animals as dogs would die from the eftects of 

 this fluid in their mouths, though, as it is highly 

 acrid, they might suft'er more than from the toad. 



Such then are the characters of this animal, the 

 dreaded salamandra, which the ancients regarded 

 with the utmost horror and aversion. They believed 

 its bite to be certainly mortal ; that anything touched 

 by its saliva became poisonous, that whoever swal- 

 lowed one, or any part of the animal, would instantly 

 expire ; nay, that if it crept over a fruit tree, all the 

 fruit became deleterious, and that even heibs on 

 which the fluid might fall would, if eaten, produce 

 the most distressing eftects. This fluid moreover 

 was thought to cause the hair of the head to fall oft'. 



To crown all, the salamander was reported not only 

 to be capable of resisting the effects of fire, but of 



extinguishing the fire itself, against which it would 

 rush as against an enemy. Aristotle, .Lilian, Nican- 

 der, Dioscorides, and Pliny, all support this opinion 

 with their authority, and portray the salamandra 

 both as a most deadly creature and also as incom- 

 bustible.* 



When a belief however erroneous becomes cur- 

 rent, it is with difficulty eiailicated ; hence are we 

 not surprised that the marvellous powers attributed 

 to this reptile by the superstitious Greeks and 

 Romans continued to be received and propagated 

 as facts, through the middle ages and almost to the 

 present time ; nor can we wonder that the alchymist 

 should consider so potent a creature influential 

 in his operations. It was in fact considered as 

 having the property of transforming quicksilver into 

 gold, and for this purpose it was secured in a vessel, 

 and placed upon the fire, while the quicksilver was 

 poured through an iron tube upon it ; an experiment 

 by which the life of the operator was thought to be 

 placed in the utmost peril. 



Cloth made of the skins of the salamander was 

 formerly believed to be incombustible, and materials 

 said to be of such manufacture were seen by Marco 

 Polo, who however discerned that these fireproof 

 cloths were made of a mineral substance ; and we 

 know that asbestos was termed salamander's wool 

 by the old writers. Of such substance we believe 

 will the salamander cloth, which we occasionally 

 read of, be Ibund to have been composed. 



The spotted salamander is common in France, Italv, 

 and the middle and southern countries of Europe 

 generally, and probably the adjacent parts of Asia. 

 In Gascony it is termed Myrtil, in Savoy Pluvine, in 

 Maine Un Sourd. Its colour is black with yellow 

 spots and numerous tubercles along the sides. 

 There are several other species. 



Fig. 2346 represents the Skeleton of the Sala- 

 mander ; a, the Skull seen in profile ; b, seen from 

 below. 



The comparison of this skeleton with those of 

 Menopoma, Sieboldtia, and that of the great Fossil 

 Newt (Andrias Scheuchzeii), proves the close al- 

 liance between them. Fig. 2347 exhibits the Skull 

 of Meuopoma ; a, seen in profile ; b, seen from 

 above ; c, seen from below. Fig. 2348 is the SJiull 

 of Sieboldtia seen from below. Fig. 2349, several 

 of the Vertebrae of Sieboldtia; and Fig. 2350, the 

 Fore-hand of Sieboldtia. Figs. 2351 and 2352 re- 

 present the Fossil Relics of Andreas Scheuchzeri. 



Ill a work like the present minute anatomical 

 details would be out of place. To those, however, 

 who may be interested in the subject we recommend 

 the ' Odontography ' by Professor Owen. In that 

 splended work is an interesting chapter on the teeth 

 of the batracliians, in which the affinities of struc- 

 ture presented by the reptiles in question are tho- 

 roughly investigated. A comparison of the figures 

 we have given will convey to our intelligent reader 

 a delinite impression as to the proximity of the ani- 

 mals in question. 



2353. — The Menopome 

 (Menopoma Atleijaniensis, Harl.). Abranchus, Harl. ; 

 Protonopsis, Barton ; Cryptobranchiis, Leukardt and 

 Fitzinger; Salamandrops, Wagler. 



This animal is the Tweeg of the Indians. Hel- 

 bender Mud Devil, Ground Puppy, and Young Alli- 

 gator of the Anglo-Americans; Fisch Salamander 

 of the Germans. Referring to the figure, a re- 

 presents the mouth open, showing the tongue and 

 teeth. Fig. 2354 is the upper surface of the head 

 of the Menopome in outline. 



In this species, the only known representative of 

 the genus, the head is flat and broad ; there are 

 two concentric rows of teeth in the upper jaw ; the 

 inner row are palatine ; on each side of the neck is 

 an operculum (probably the relic of the branchial 

 apparatus and opening), situated about hallway 

 between the angle of the mouth and the foreleg. 

 There are here three opercular cartilages, and the 

 aperture is betvN'eeii the posterior two. The limbs 

 are thort and thick, and fimbriated on the outer 

 edge ; toes four on the anterior feet, five on the 

 hinder ; the tail is laterally compressed : a fold of 

 puckered skin runs down each side of the neck and 

 body. This animal, which is about two feet in 

 lenglh, is a native of the Ohio and Alleghany rivers ; 

 Michaux appears to have been the first traveller 

 who noticed it. He states that in the torrents of 

 the Alleghanies is found a species of salamander, 

 termed by the inhabitants Alligator of the Mountains, 

 and that some are two feet in length. In its habits 

 this animal is extremely fierce and voracious, sparing 

 nothing that it can overcome and devour. It is 

 believed by the fishermen to be poisonous, and is 

 consequently much dreaded; so revolting indeed is 

 its aspect, that we can little wonder at their feelings 



* We must except Galen, who knew that the reptile would liurn; 

 anil we may aiU tliat Matthioltis, a commentator on UiOionilca, saw 

 one liestroycd by lire. lie lived in tlie 1 Glh century. 



S 2 



