146 OUR REPTILES. 



This generally occurs about the middle of Sep- 

 tember. It may be noted that tritons which 

 emerge from the ova too late in the season to 

 develop their legs before the cold weather sets 

 in, make no progress during the winter, and do 

 not attain a terrestrial state until the ensuing 

 spring. Under ordinary and favourable circum- 

 stances, five or six months are necessary for their 

 passage through their metamorphoses. 



There were, prior to Mr. Higginbottom's paper 

 becoming known, two puzzles in the history and 

 habits of the tritons. Why were they so com- 

 monly collected from water, and yet, soon after 

 being transferred to water in confinement, make 

 every effort to escape from that element ? And, 

 why were so many varieties and sizes, crested or 

 uncrested, found, and yet so nearly allied as 

 to appear but as forms of the same species? 

 Answers to both these queries are found in the 

 terrestrial habit and slow development of the 

 reptile through three whole years after its change 

 from the tadpole stage. "The triton does not 

 commonly return to the water until the expiration 

 of the third year, when it is so far advanced towards 

 maturity as to be able to reproduce its kind." 

 We have here a singular instance of protracted 

 development, of a slow growth through four suc- 

 cessive summers, and a cessation of growth 

 through four inglorious winters. At length the 



