182 



THE AXOTOTL. 



This ornament is very delicate and beautiful, and at the height of the season is often 

 edged with beautiful carmine or violet. The color is brownish gray above and bright 

 orange below, covered with round spots of black. In the autumn and during the winter 

 the abdomen becomes much paler. The length of this species is about three inches and 

 a half. 



The PALMATED WATER NEWT of Mr. Bell (Lissotriton pdlmipes) is held by the au- 

 thorities of the British Museum to be merely a variety of this species. 



WE now arrive at another family, known by the curious manner in which the teeth 

 of the palate form a broken cross-series. 



The first example is the JAPANESE A^\u&T>x&(jOnychoddtylusJapbnicusj) remarka- 

 ble for having, during the larval state and in the breeding season, claws upon the toes. 

 Its color is purplish black, variegated irregularly with white, and the claws are black. 

 It is thought by the natives to possess medical properties, and they employ its flesh in 

 sundry ailments, killing, and drying it in the sun for better preservation. 



AMBYSTOME, OR SPOTTED EFr.-Ambystoma Carolina. 



ANOTHER example of this family is the AMBYSTOME, or SPOTTED EFT, of North 

 America. 



This species is not uncommon in the countries which it inhabits, and is found in some 

 numbers in Pennsylvania. The eggs of this creature are not deposited singly and in the 

 water, as is the case with the newts, but are laid in small packets, and placed beneath 

 damp stones. The head of the Ambystome is thick, convex, and with the muzzle 

 rounded. Its color is deep violet-black above, and purple-black below, with a row of 

 circular or oval yellow spots along the sides. These spots are large in proportion to the 

 dimensions of the individual, and have a very bold effect. The genus is rather lafge, con- 

 taining about eleven acknowledged species. One of them, Ambystomatalpoideum, or Mole- 

 like ambystome, derives its name from its habit of burrowing in the ground after the 

 fashion of the mole. It lives in South Carolina, and is found on the sea-islands. The fore- 

 limbs are peculiarly short and stout, and the body is rather thick and clumsily made. 



WE now come to a very remarkable creature, the AXOLOTL, which is presumed to be but 

 the larva or tadpole state of some very large batrachian. Like many other enigmatical ani- 

 mals, it has been bandied about considerably in the course of investigation, and according 

 to the latest observations, the original opinion seems to be correct, namely, that it is not 



