298 NEWTS AND SALAMANDERS. 



being thus exactly the opposite to that of a frog. They often stand upright in the 

 water when coming to the surface to breathe, after which they will sink to the 

 bottom with a snake-like movement in search of prey. When on land, they seek 

 shelter beneath stones and roots, or in holes in the ground, and in such situations 

 often undergo their winter sleep, although such as live in deep water pass the cold 

 season of the year in a kind of torpor at the bottom. All newts are carnivorous or 

 insectivorous, and the crested newt feeds largely on the tadpoles of the common 

 frog, while the larger species will prey on the smaller members of their own genus. 

 Although there is considerable difference in the spawning-time of the various species, 

 the eggs are generally deposited during May or June, the female laying each egg 

 singly on the edge of the leaf of some water-plant, which is folded together by her 

 hind-feet, and thus held by the viscosity of the egg. In the course of a few days 

 after its deposition, the white embryo assumes an elongated form within the egg ; 

 and soon it is seen to be folded upon itself, with the gills well developed, and in 

 advance of them a pair of lobes by which the liberated tadpole affixes itself to 

 aquatic plants. When about a quarter of an inch in length, and while the gills are 

 still simple, the tadpole bursts its envelope; the front-limbs being represented 

 merely by a pair of small knobs behind the gills. W T hen hatched, it swims about 

 in an aimless kind of way till it strikes against some object to which it can easily 

 attach itself, and after a short time starts on another voyage. Development now 

 proceeds apace, and in the course of two or three weeks the tadpole will have 

 attained a length of about half an inch, while the gills will have become elegantly 

 branched, and the fore-limbs well developed. At this period the eyes assume their 

 permanent character, and the mouth has become terminal, while the lobes for 

 attachment to plants are well-nigh absorbed. Still later the front feet, which had 

 previously been only digitated, acquire four distinct toes, and the hind-limbs make 

 their appearance and gradually assume their full proportions ; but the gills have 

 become still more complex. From this date the latter appendages gradually 

 diminish in size, and shrivel, while the lungs are at the same time developed, until 

 finally, about the latter part of the autumn, the creature has completed its meta- 

 morphosis, and passed from the condition of a fish to that of a reptile. Although 

 in most cases newts shed their skin piecemeal, in the crested newt it has been 

 observed to be cast entire. 



Spectacled The presence of only four toes to each foot, and of a bony fronto- 



saiamander. squamosal arch to the skull, are the most distinctive features of the 

 little spectacled salamander (Salamandrina perspicillata) of Italy, the sole repre- 

 sentative of the genus to which it belongs. It is. however, further distinguished 

 by its slender form, and also by its somewhat compressed and rapidly tapering tail, 

 furnished both above and below with a longitudinal keel, as well as by the palatine 

 teeth being arranged in two parallel series diverging posteriorly. The tongue is 

 very similar to that of the genus Chioglossa. Reaching from rather more than 3 

 to nearly 4 inches in length, this pretty little salamander has a warty skin, and is 

 generally black on the upper-parts, although there is a triangular or chevron- 

 shaped yellow mark on the top of the head. Beneath, the chin is white, the throat 

 black, and the rest of the under-parts white, usually marked with black spots ; the 

 lower surface of the tail and adjacent part of the body is, however, bright carmine. 



