180 ZOOLOGY. 



and fish-like, the tail sometimes with a caudal fin as in the 

 newts, but usually rounded, while the four legs are always 

 present. One or two of the salamanders living away from 

 water bring forth their young alive; but as a rule salaman- 

 ders lay their eggs in the water. The eggs of the newt 

 (Triton) are laid singly on submerged leaves; those of the 

 spotted newt are also laid singly on the leaves of floating 

 plants. Those of Desmognathus are laid connected by a 

 tough thread on land. The common red-backed salaman- 

 der, or Plethodon erytlironotum, lays its eggs in summer in 

 packets under damp stones, leaves, etc. ; the young are born 

 with gills, as is the case with the viviparous Salamandra 

 atra of the Alps. This species is said by John Burroughs * 

 to make a " fine plaintive piping noise, heard from May till 

 November through all our woods, sometimes on trees, but 

 usually on or near the ground." 



The lowest form of this order is the aquatic Congo- 

 snake {Amjihiuma means), in which the body is large, 

 very long, round and slender, with small rudimentary 

 two-toed limbs; there are no gills, though spiracles or gill- 

 openings survive. It Jives in swamps and sluggish streams 

 of the Southern States. 



A step higher is the Menopoma, which is still aquatic, 

 but without gills, while the body and feet are as in the 

 true salamanders. The Menopoma Alleglianiense (Fig. 227), 

 called the hellbender or big water lizard, is about half a 

 metre (14—2 feet) in length, and inhabits the Mississippi 

 Valley. Allied to the Amphiuma is the gigantic Japanese 

 salamander, Cryptob ranch as Japotiicus, which is a metre 

 in length. 



We now come to the true salamanders, whose body is still 

 tailed, with larger eyes; there are no spiracles; they breathe 

 exclusively by their lungs, except what respiration is car- 

 ried on by the skin. 



The genus Amblystoma comprises our largest salamanders; 



* "Pepaclou." Boston, 1881, p. 133. 



