80 EBPTILIAN WATER TRESPASSERS. 



that it is anything but a pretty creature. It lives 

 well in this country. 



Another very large Newt is the Menopome of the 

 Ohio river, which reaches the length of two feet or so. 

 Both these large Newts are very voracious ; and are 

 so destructive among fish, that the latter has received 

 the popular but not euphonious names of mud-devil, 

 hell-bender, and ground-puppy. 



The fishermen are nearly as much afraid of it as 

 our English peasants are of the Common Newt, though 

 with a little more reason/inasmuch as the Menopome is 

 a large animal ; and in spite of the small size of its 

 teeth, might manage to give an ugly bite ; whereas 

 the Newt is absolutely incapable of harm. But, in 

 both cases, the animal is credited with powers which 

 it does not possess, and its bite is thought to be 

 venomous. 



It does not seem to be very plentiful in any 

 locality, its numbers having apparently been dimin- 

 ished within the last few years. Dr. C. C. Abbott 

 mentions that in various parts of the United States, 

 the Menopome has been exhibited in travelling mena- 

 geries under the title of the "Australian Ornithor- 

 hynchus paradoxus." The exhibitor must have pos- 

 sessed wonderful confidence in the ignorance of the 

 general public. 



In captivity it is found to feed voraciously on 

 minnows and similar fish, an astonishing number of 

 which it devours daily. One of these reptiles tried to 

 eat a large cray-fish, but got so sharply pricked in the 

 nose by the projecting points of the crustacean's head, 

 that it afterwards took care to let the creature alone. 



