558 Studies in the Theory of Descent. 



Amblystoma form. How completely this was 

 accomplished will be seen from the following 

 notes by the lady herself, and it will no less 

 appear that these results were only obtained by 

 that care in treatment and delicacy of observation 

 which she devoted to the experiments. 



EXPERIMENTS. 



" I began the experiments on June I2th, 1874, 

 with five larvae about eight days old, these being 

 the only survivors out of twelve. Owing to the 

 extraordinary delicacy of these creatures, the 

 quality and temperature of the water, and the 

 nature and quantity of their food exerts the greatest 

 influence, especially in early life, and one cannot 

 be too cautious in their treatment. 



" The specimens were kept in a glass globe of 

 about thirty centimeters in diameter, the tem- 

 perature of the water being regulated ; as food at 

 first Daphnids, and afterwards larger aquatic 

 animals were introduced in large numbers. By 

 this means all the five larvae throve excellently. 

 At the end of June the rudiments of the front 

 legs appeared in the most vigorous specimens, 

 and on the 9th of July the hind legs also became 

 visible. At the end of November I noticed that 

 one Axolotl remained constantly at the surface of 

 the water, and this led me to suppose that the 

 right period had now arrived for effecting the 



