3 o 4 NEWTS, AND SALAMANDERS. 



those on the margin of the upper jaw. In form the giant salamander is very 

 stoutly built ; the head being very large, wide, and flattened, with the muzzle 

 regularly rounded, the small nostrils situated near the extremity, and the eyes 

 very minute. The body is likewise broad and depressed ; the legs and toes are 

 short, the outer ones, as well as the outer side of the hind-leg, having a mem- 

 branous fringe ; and the short tail is strongly compressed, with a fin above and 

 below, and its tip rounded. The skin, which forms a thick fold along each side of 

 the body, is very warty, especially on the head ; and the general colour is brown 

 with black spots, becoming lighter on the upper-parts. Although the ordinary 

 length of this salamander is about 35 inches, it is stated at times to grow to as 

 much as 44 inches. 



Originally purchased by Siebold in the market of Nippon, the giant salamander 

 is now ascertained to inhabit not only the mountain streams of that island, but 

 likewise those of several parts of the Japanese mainland, as well as of Western 

 Central China. Nowhere very abundant, the creature generally frequents the 

 upper courses of small mountain-streams at elevations of from seven hundred to 

 five thousand feet above the sea-level ; some of these streams being not more than 

 a foot in width, and completely covered over with grasses and other herbage. 

 The water is clear; and usually while the full-grown salamanders curl them- 

 selves round masses of rock in the bed of the stream, the younger ones live in 

 holes. Except in search of food, which consists of worms, crustaceans, fish, and 

 frogs, the animals do not leave their hiding-places, and then only at night, while 

 they never venture on land. In confinement they are extremely slow and sluggish 

 in their movements, only exhibiting any marked activity when they rise to snap 

 at a worm or other tempting morsel. In spite of its large size, the female lays 

 very minute eggs, which are generally deposited in August and September. The 

 smallest young yet observed had a length of about 6 inches, and in every respect 

 resembled the adult. Probably however, at an earlier stage of development, 

 external gills were present ; and indeed, in an illustrated Japanese book, the young 

 of the giant salamander is represented with these appendages. Further evidence 

 of this is afforded by the circumstance that young specimens have been taken in 

 which the gill-openings were retained. The first two living examples were brought 

 to Europe in 1829 by Siebold, and were fed on fresh-water fish brought from 

 Japan, but when these began to fail, the male devoured his unfortunate partner. 

 When suitable food was procured, the male, however, flourished and increased 

 rapidly in size, surviving till the year 1881, when it died in Amsterdam. 



Under this euphonious name is designated in its native country 

 the Mississippi salamander (Cryptobranchus lateralis), which differs 

 from its Asiatic cousin by the presence of a gill-opening, at least on the left side of 

 the neck, and likewise by the presence of four pairs of gill-arches, and by the 

 anterior border of the tongue being free. In general form this salamander closely 

 resembles its larger relative ; the skin being porous and rather smooth, and the 

 head covered with scattered wart-like tubercles. The colour is brown or greyish, 

 with darker blotches ; but the tips of the toes are yellowish. In length this 

 species, which is the sole representative of its genus, reaches about 16 or 17 inches; 

 and it inhabits all the tributaries of the Mississippi, and ranges into North Carolina. 



