78 ' Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



widen at each end into an inverted V on the back, hut are more liaear 

 on the tail. These hands number about seven on the body and as 

 many on the tail, occasionally more or less; sometimes they are coa- 

 fluent with those before and behind, but often are interrupted in the 

 middle. They do not descend more than one-third on the sides, being 

 confined to the dorsal region. There is also a similar patch on to]^ 

 of the snout. Limbs and belly may be uniform in color, or may be 

 sprinkled with white dots. 



Size. — Largest specimen, 71 mm. head and body, 44 mm, from pos- 

 terior end of vent to end of tail; total length 115 mm. 



Habitat. — From Long Island and Florida, west to Wis- 

 consin, south to Louisiana. In Missouri I can record it 

 from Butler, Dunklin, New Madrid, Oregon, Pemiscot, 

 Stoddard, and St. Louis counties, and from Monroe and 

 Randolph counties in Elinois. 



Habits. — The habits of this salamander have been most 

 carefully studied by Col. Nicholas Pike, with specimens 

 collected on Long Island. He states in Bulletin No. 7, 

 page 209, of the American Museum of Natural History 

 in New York, that eggs and young were taken soon after 

 the ice had left the ponds toward the latter part of March. 

 The eggs were enveloped in a glairy mass. The young 

 emerged in fifteen days. At first they were of a dingy 

 brown color, with two rows of pale dots along the sides- 

 When a month old, they were excessively active. Some 

 which were dissected had in their stomachs the larvae of 

 insects, etc. At the age of two months, they would eat 

 small mollusks. When an inch long the gills are fringed, 

 the tail-fin is edged with black, the rows of white spots 

 are more prominent, and the head broader and more 

 prominent also. The gills appear to be absorbed, and the 

 fin membrane to disappear, when the length is about two 

 inches, the whole body being sprinkled with white dots. 

 As soon as the branchiae are absorbed, the larvse become 

 restless, seek to escape from the water, and if confined 

 in it, many of them die. If permitted they crawl into moss 

 and leaves, and curl up there in contentment. The meta- 

 morphosis occurs about the 5th of May. It is, however, 



