378 Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons. 



their way through a grating which led to the cellar in an irre- 

 gular course twenty-six feet deep and nearly perpendicular. 



The cellar was sufficiently damp to prevent evaporation and to 

 continue the cuticular absorption, for they were all plump and 

 healthy; but having been afterwards put into a small white 

 glazed jar and left in a room from 55° to 60° Fahr. and forgotten, 

 they were found dead in a desiccated state after the lapse of three 

 or four days. 



Another accident occurred to a number of the Tritons which 

 I had kept exposed to the weather in a large vessel with clay and 

 stones. There had been a continued rain for several days, and 

 they had from this cause become covered with water whilst in a 

 state of hibernation. I found them all dead and swollen, whilst 

 others which had not been exposed to the rain were in a healthy 

 state. 



I have, in two experiments, found that the Triton can live in a 

 solid mass of ice, without injury, as has been noticed by na- 

 turalists. 



In Feb. 1844 I put two Tritons into some water in a vessel 

 and exposed them to a freezing temperature during the night; 

 in the morning I found the water frozen very firmly, with the 

 Tritons enclosed in its centre. On thawing they were lively and 

 flexible ; not in the same condition which occurs during hiberna- 

 tion, for when in that state I have found them comparatively 

 stiff, with the body bent in various shapes, and with the tail 

 partly curved, and on being put into the hand (at 80° Fahr.) 

 they twist the body, and the tail becomes more curved. 



In the second experiment there was a piece of ice at the bot- 

 tom of a circular vessel. I placed two Tritons upon it and then 

 another covering of ice, and filled the vessel with water. I ex- 

 posed it during the night in the open air at the temperature of 

 28° Fahr. In the morning the whole had become a solid mass 

 of ice, twelve inches in circumference, with the animals in the 

 centre. 



On breaking the ice carefully they were found completely 

 encased in the ice. I had some difficulty in separating one ex- 

 tremity, but being liberated it used its arms and legs equally 

 well. 



V. Limitation of its second aquatic life to the period required for 

 reproduction. 



About the last week in March the perfect Triton leaves the 

 land and again becomes aquatic. It has then acquired all those 

 appearances which exist only during the breeding season. 



The mode of fecundation in the Triton asper, from my own 

 observation, accords with that of Dr. Rusconi, in his work en- 



