78 HALF-HOURS IN THE GREEN LANES. 



In some of our old tarns there is met with yet 

 another species of British newt, called Palmate 

 (Lophinns palmatus). Its distribution is isolated, 

 although it appears to be chiefly southern. It has 

 been found in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, 

 Bridgewater, Dartmoor, Hereford, &c. It is the 

 most beautiful of its kind, having, in the male, a 

 straight crest. The body is beautifully marbled 

 with olive-grey and white. Only the hind feet are 

 palmate hence the name of the species. The 

 female is usually much paler than the male, and 

 differs from it so much, especially in the spring, 

 that it has been thought another species. It should 

 be stated that, when keeping newts in an aquarium, 

 if the cast-off skin is wanted for preservation, care 

 should be taken to secure it soon after it has been 

 sloughed, otherwise its former possessor will surely 

 make a meal of it ! 



The frogs and toads resemble the newts, especially 

 in their larval stage, in many particulars. But 

 there is no doubt their general organisation is 

 higher. Like the palmate newt, the hind limbs are 

 generally webbed. In the frogs, the skin is an 

 active agent in the work of respiration, although 

 the lungs are pretty well developed. As there are 

 no ribs by which the cavity of the chest can be 

 expanded, the air is taken into the lungs by a 

 process that very much resembles swallowing. Th 

 spawn or ova, both of frogs and toads, is familiar to 

 all country people. It is deposited in masses and 



