THE SALAMANDERS. 373 



the little Tadpole got rid of its gills, which were replaced by others of an unusual form, and the new 

 ones adapted the creature to its novel existence. It lived for fifteen weeks at the bottom of the 

 water, and grew considerably. Then the gills atrophied, and the tail and skin altered, and finallv, 

 after moulting its cuticle, the Salamander quitted the water, and then the gill-clefts closed, and it 

 became an adult Land Salamander. This observation is interesting in connection with the history 

 of the Axolotl, which has branclme in early life, and may lose them later on. 



The next genus, Pleurodeles, has short ribs, which give the appearance as if they penetrated the 

 flanks, but their ends come against the tissue under the skin, and produce horny projections thereon. The 

 tail is long and compressed, and the small tongue is adherent only in front, and there are two series of 

 palatine teeth in longitudinal series. The (Spanish kind has an ashy-grey body,* very prettily marked 

 with long transverse stripes and dots. It is very like a heavy Lizard. 



The genus Pseudotriton includes a red kind witli numerous small black points, and the abdomen 

 is orange-red. It is a land animal, and is found under rocks and fallen and decaying trees. It will take 

 to the water, and this pretty little thing lives on insects, and is a North American kind. 



There have been many stories about the Salamanders producing poisonous results, and an able 

 writer in the " Penny Cyclopedia " may be thus quoted regarding them : 



''The body of the Salamander is largely covered with warty glands. These secrete a milky fluid 

 of a glutinous and acrid nature, which, if not capable of affecting the larger and more highly organised 

 animals, appears to be a destructive agent to some of those which are less highly organised. Thus 

 Laurent! provoked two grey Lizards to bite a Salamander, which at first attempted to escape from them, 

 but being still persecuted, ejected some of this fluid into their mouths ; one of the Lizards died instantly, 

 and the other fell into convulsions for two minutes, and then expired. Some of this juice was intro- 

 duced into the mouth of another Lizard : it became convulsed, was paralytic on the whole of one side, 

 and soon died. According to Dr. Barton, this fluid which the animal secretes in large quantities 

 when irritated, and is then capable of ejecting it to some distance is not soluble in water, though it 

 dissolves readily in spirit of wine. He found the taste of the juice of Salamandra sulviolacea extremely 

 acrid, resembling corrosive sublimate, and very astringent. 



" Such is the extent of the foundation for the long-cherished assertion that the Salamander was 

 one of the most venomous of animals. Nicander, in his ' Alexipharmaca,' gives an appalling picture 

 of the symptoms produced by its bite. The Romans looked on it with horror as most destructive, and 

 considered it as deadly a part of the poisoner's laboratory as aconite or hemlock. Hence came the 

 proverb that he who was bitten by a Salamander had need of as many physicians as the animal had 

 spots ; and another still more hopeless : ' If a Salamander bites you, put on your shroud.' 



" But the grand absurdity of all was the belief that the Salamander was incombustible ; that it 

 not only resisted the action of fire, but extinguished it, and when it saw the flame, charged it as an 

 enemy which it well knew how to vanquish." 



The last genus of this group is Salamandrina, and a species is found in Italy and Dalmatia, 

 They are small Salamander-like creatures, and their head has a triangular reddish spot, and the 

 rest of the upper part is black. Beneath the body the colour is white, spotted with black, and the 

 under parts of the thighs are reddish. The tail, cylindrical in shape, has sharp ridges above and below, 

 and the hind feet have four free digits. The tongue is fixed in front, and the palatal teeth, parallel in 

 front, are divergent behind. They are barely two inches in length, f 



The next family are the PLETHODONTID.E, and a species (Plethodon yiutinosa) has a cylindrical 

 body, with a lax skin, which is folded on the back. The tail is very long, the head large and flat, 

 and the palatine teeth are in two long converging lines. The colour is dark or blue-black, and there 

 are little white spots on the sides of the skin and stomach. It is found from Massachusetts to Florida. 



The genus Desmognathus is one of the family, and its species have the posterior half of the 

 tongue free, and it can be ejected beyond the mouth. Mr. Leiss, writing in the Scientific American, 

 may be thus quoted about the brown species, which lives in the North-Eastern part of the United 

 States : 



" They inhabit the shallow and stony spring brooks of hillsides and springs. I never have found 

 them far away from spring water. They ave varely seen swimming, but must be looked for beneath the 



* P,'eurodcks waUlii. t Salamandrina perspicillata, 



190 



