RIVER GARDENS ; 



ture, though forming, as I have said, a kind of Toad 

 division in his special family, is yet much handsomer 

 than the Toad ; his long, slender form, and, in the 

 early part of summer, the rich colouring of the under 

 part of his hody orange, spotted with crimson 

 rendering him a very handsome creature : each 

 tubercle, too, is ornamented with a bright speck of 

 white, which produces a pretty sparkling effect. 

 But I prefer the smooth, or Prog division, of the 

 Newt family, all the individuals of which are ex- 

 ceedingly graceful creatures, and often very elegantly 

 marked with rich colours, especially during the 

 breeding season. ' 



There are two species of the smooth spotted Newt 

 (lAssotriton punctatus). The lesser species is the 

 handsomest of the two. The male (figured in Plate 

 VII., No. 1) is of a full rich grey on the back, spotted 

 with black ; and underneath, of a fine orange colour, 

 enriched with large finely formed spots of crimson. 

 The female (No. 2, in the same Plate) is less richly 

 coloured. It is, however, only during the summer 

 season that this great disparity of colour exists, at 

 which time the male is also distinguished by a hand- 

 some fin-like crest, running the whole length of the 

 back and tail. 



A pair of the larger species (Nos. 3 and 4, 



