192 Descriptive Zoology. 



the two pairs of limbs close to the body and swim by lat- 

 eral movements of the vertically flattened tail. Most 

 of the salamanders li^e on land, but they seek moist 

 places. The salamanders are often incorrectly called liz- 

 ards. They are pretty well distributed in temperate and 

 tropical regions. Most of them are of rather small size. 

 One form is used as food by the Mexicans. In some 

 forms the larva is larger than the adult. In unfavorable 

 conditions some of the larvae fail to transform, but perma- 

 nently, or at least indefinitely, retain the gills. Some 

 European forms fail to develop lungs. Many of the 

 salamanders reproduce the legs or tail when these 

 members have been lost. Like the other amphibians, the 

 salamanders go to the water to lay their eggs, and all sala- 

 manders, whether they lead a terrestrial life later or not, 

 spend their early life in the water, breathing by means of 

 gills. One family of salamanders are called newts or efts. 

 None of o'ur amphibians are in any way poisonous or inju- 

 rious to man, though several of them are reputed to be so. 



Frogs and Toads. These are the highest of the amphib- 

 ians. They have lost, not only the gills, but also the 

 tail. They are not only fitted to live a truly terrestrial 

 life, like the salamanders, but are much more active than 

 the latter, having the hind limbs well developed for leap- 

 ing, whereas the two pairs of limbs in the salamander are 

 nearly equal, and it can, at best, only crawl. 



One of the commonest of the frogs is the leopard frog, 

 so named from its spots. Quite similar to it in general 

 appearance is the pickerel frog. The green frog is green- 

 ish and brownish, with small dark spots. The bullfrog is 

 well known from its size and heavy voice. 



The common toad has a rough-looking, warty skin, in 

 which are glands that secrete an irritating liquid for pro- 



