THE NEWTS 149 



brown, with two rows of bright vermilion spots, in all from 

 6 to 12. Its under surface is orange, marked with small 

 black dots. Half-grown specimens are brownish red, with 

 the characteristic spots of bright red. 



This puny little animal inhabits deeper water than most 

 salamanders, and swims freely, often in an upright position, in 

 which the hind legs hang motionless while the tail does all 

 the work. It feeds upon the larva of aquatic insects, worms, 

 and very small mollusks. For schoolroom aquaria, Newts 

 are more easily obtained than any other of the tailed amphib- 

 ians, and they are easily kept. 



Our Newt has long been of much interest to American 

 naturalists, and its complicated series of changes from the 

 egg to adolescence have been carefully studied and reported 

 upon. 1 



The Newt of western North America (Triton torosus) is 

 one of the largest of the genus, and attains a length of 6 inches. 

 The tail is longer than the body, much flattened vertically, 

 and is provided with a dorsal and ventral fin. The under- 

 parts are colored yellow. 



THE FAMILY OF AMPHIUMAS 



Amphiumidae 



Unfortunately there is no English name which properly 

 applies to the members of this Family. Some are like sal- 

 amanders, and some are like eels; but none are "fish-like" 

 salamanders, as they are sometimes called. In the perfect 

 state they are without gills, the gill-clefts being in a vanish- 



1 See L. J. Gage in the American Naturalist, 1891, p. 1084. 



