454 



THE NATURE BOOK 



needed. Collections of small newts have 

 occasionally been found at a considerable 

 distance from water, which looks as if the 



MALE SMOOTH NEWT WHO HAS LOST A 

 CONSIDERABLE PART OF HIS TAIL. 



The transparent portion shows the process of rfnewal 

 about half completed. 



year's brood travelled together, but I am 

 not aware that such collections have ever 

 been examined by observers who were 

 competent to determine the maturity or 

 otherwise of the newts composing them. 



Of the age to which newts normally hve 

 nothing is known, but instances of re- 

 markable longevity in capti\'e specimens 

 have been recorded. In Country Side 

 of February 23rd, 1907, we read of a 

 female of the Great Warty Newt who had 

 been in the possession of her owner, 

 Mr. P. Payne (Old Colw>m, North Wales), 

 for thirty-one years, and who 

 had presumably celebrated a silver 

 wedding, for a male had lived 

 twenty-five years with her. 



The remarkable power which 

 newts possess of repairing injuries 

 to their tails and limbs, even to 

 the extent of complete renewal, 

 justifies our regarding them, from 

 the assurance standpoint, as re- 

 markably " good " lives. 



The sloughing (periodical change 

 of skin), which occurs regularly 

 in both reptiles and amphibians, is 

 especially interesting in the newts, 

 owing to the dexterity with which 

 they extricate their hmbs. 



For some days pre\'ious to 

 sloughing the newt seems peevish 

 and ill at ease. The borders of 



his mouth become ragged, and one can 

 see that the skin is peeling round it. 

 He continually rubs himself against 

 the weeds. Once, however, the pre- 

 liminary stage is passed, it seems as 

 though his whole integument came loose 

 at once. He extricates his limbs one by 

 one, and finally pushes his discarded 

 garment backwards over his tail. Some- 

 times he eats it (the frequency with 

 which certain reptiles, amphibians, and 

 insects eat their exuvia is somewhat 

 remarkable), but just as often the 

 slough floats off behind him, forming a 

 pretty, delicate object, and save for the 

 inevitable tearing about the head portion, 

 a perfect replica of his external form. 



A few notes as to the means of distin- 

 guishing the three British species and as 

 to their distribution may be of interest. 



The Great Warty Newt is the largest of 

 the three, averaging five inches in length 

 and being stout in proportion. Next to 

 him comes the Smooth Newt, a\'eraging 

 three and a half inches ; and the smallest 

 is the Palmated Newt, who averages two 

 and a half inches. 



The Great Warty Newt is known also 

 as the Great Crested Newt, but the former 

 name, which is derived from a distinc- 

 tive character, seems the preferable one. 

 It has its origin in the small warty pro- 

 tuberances with which his skin is studded. 



The general colour scheme in both sexes 

 is black and orange. The " black " may 

 present an oli\'e or brown tinge, while in 



SMOOTH NEWT'S FRESHLY-DISCARDED 

 SUSPENDED IN THE WATER. 



SKIN 



