74 Craigmillar and its Environs. 



each other, both determined not to give way, till the 

 difficulty is settled by the worm breaking asunder ! If 

 facilities are afforded them, newts will lay their eggs 

 in captivity, which they do generally in April. The 

 eggs do not adhere together, like the spawn of frogs, 

 but each is deposited separately on a leaf and folded 

 up by the mother. In due course the young newt 

 issues from the egg, and, after passing through its 

 various stages, reaches at length adult size. In 

 keeping newts in confinement, care should be taken 

 that an island formed by a stone or something similar 

 be placed in the water, in order that they may have 

 facilities afforded them for crawling to " land," which 

 they readily take advantage of The " island " must be 

 in the centre, for if near the side they will speedily take 

 their departure. Such was our experience when a 

 dozen splendid specimens bade us good-bye in the 

 summer of i8gi. Awakened early by the screaming 

 of a servant-maid, we hurried to the kitchen, thinking 

 burglars had effected an entrance, and were not a little 

 amused to discover that the alarm was caused by a 

 couple of newts crawling about the kitchen-floor. So 



