196 LIFE OF TEGETMEIER 



unable to attain the adult condition ! All sorts 

 of quaint theories were current, and interest 

 centred in its metamorphoses. However, knowing 

 no natural history myself, I simply quote the 

 following passage from the article on Siredon 

 in the Encyclopedia Britannica : " The meta- 

 morphosis of the true axolotl, undoubtedly 

 obtained from the Lake of Mexico, seems to 

 have been observed only once — namely, by 

 Tegetmeier in London. That naturalist had five 

 specimens, and one of them underwent the 

 metamorphosis. In 1871 Cope stated that no 

 one had seen the metamorphosis of the true 

 Siredon (S. mexicanus), Baird, and that no 

 Amblystomse had been obtained from Mexico 

 south of the Tropic of Cancer, while the true 

 axolotl is found south of that line. He was 



unaware of Tegetmeier' s observation The 



axolotl is an example of one of the most 

 curious and interesting modes by which animals 

 may be adapted to their conditions, and two 

 species formed out of one." Into this scientific 

 conundrum I cannot further go ; all I know 

 about " Tegetmeier' s observation " is the fact 

 that the aquarium in which his precious axolotls 

 lived was kept for years in the dining-room at 

 Finchley, and was considered somewhat of a 

 nuisance by the family, especially as no one 

 dared to interfere with its favoured position in 

 the bow-window. 



