SALAMANDERS. 281 



circumstances may considerably hasten or retard the completion of their me- 

 tamorphosis. A deficiency of light and heat very much prolongs the duration 

 of the tadpole state. 



Having reached their perfect condition, the frogs cease to be aquatic ani- 

 mals ; but most of them continue to live in the neighbourhood of water, and 

 dive frequently into it. 



The Batrachia are divisible into two sections, those that pre- 

 serve their tail in their adult state (Urodeld), and those that lose 

 that member altogether (Anoura). Those that retain their tail 

 walk badly; owing to the feebleness of their limbs they can only 

 drag their bodies along the ground, and usually live in the water 

 such are the Newts. Those, on the contrary, which lose their 

 tail, as the Frogs, walk or even leap with facility. 



TAILED BATRACHIAXS. URODELA.* 



In this division, which comprehends the Newts and the Sala- 

 manders, the tail, so characteristic of the tadpole condition, re- 

 mains large, long, and well developed through life. 



FIG. 302. SKELETON OF SALAMANDER. 



The accompanying figure of the skeleton of one of these ani- 

 mals will display its general form and structure. The body is 

 slender, lengthened, and lizard-like; the limbs are four in num- 

 ber, and furnished with small, well-formed toes ; the vertebrae are 

 numerous and flexible, the ribs mere rudiments and very short. 



The Terrestrial Salamander (Salamandra} is a harmless little reptile, "from 

 six to eight inches long, thicker and fuller than a lizard, having a pale white belly, and 

 one part of the skin exceeding black, the other yellow, both of them very splendent and. 

 glistening, with a black line going down the back, having upon it many little spots, like 

 eggs." This "daughter of fire, with a body of ice," was formerly, and is still, in/some 

 parts believed to be able to brave the violence of fire, to pass through it unhurt, and even 

 to extinguish it in. its course, with how much truth we leave our readers to judge. The 



* oi'pa oura, tail ; 5/jXos, delos, manifest i.e., having a conspicuous tail. 



