Miscellaneous. 213 



the schists of (Euiiigen, which was the subject of a careful study on 

 the part of Cuvier. Of late years the gigantic salamauder of Japan, 

 now regarded as the type of a peculiar genus {Sieboldia maxima ; 

 Sulamandra maxima, Schleg.), has been several times brought to 

 Europe ; and at the present moment we have two living individuals 

 at the Museum of Natural History, which cause, if not the admira- 

 tion, at least the surprise, of the visitors to the Menagerie. Hitherto 

 no similar species has been met with in any part of the world ; and 

 the announcement of the existence of a gigantic salamander in the 

 waters of the western provinces of China could not but attract the 

 attention of naturalists*. Vague intelligence was of little conse- 

 quence; but among the objects collected by the Abbe Armand David, 

 after his departure from eastern Thibet t, we got the skin of the 

 great Batrachian. The business was to compare the Chinese sala- 

 mander with that of Japan, and to ascertain whether the two ani- 

 mals were of the same or of different species. The comparison leaves 

 no room for uncertainty : the salamander brought by M. Armand 

 David, although very nearly allied to the salamander discovered by 

 Siebold, is distinguished therefrom by some very apparent characters. 

 On the head and anterior part of the body it has less confluent 

 tubercles, regularly arranged, so as to form very strongly marked 

 lines and patterns. Thus, the eye is as it were framed by a double 

 row of tubercles, which, on the inside, becomes angular like a very 

 open V. In the Japanese species, the tubercles, on the contrary, 

 present a confused arrangement. The Chinese species also appears 

 to us to have the digits of the four limbs rather longer ; and we be- 

 lieve that the general colour of the body is blacker ; but the imper- 

 fect state of preservation of the individual that we possess prevents 

 our dwelling upon many details. To the great salamander of 

 western China we give the name of Sieboldia Davidiana, which will 

 once more commemorate the admirable explorer of China, Mongolia, 

 and Thibet. 



The gigantic salamander Hves on the frontiers of the Celestial 

 Empire, in clear and limpid streams which descend from the moun- 

 tains of Khou-kou-noor ; it acquires, apparently, enormous dimen- 

 sions ; for the Abbe David reports that individuals are taken weigh- 

 ing from 25 to 30 kilogrammes. Of course, such animals are a 

 valuable alimentary resource for the inhabitants of the country. 



The discovery of species so remarkable as the great salamanders 

 of Japan and China is of great zoological interest, but it has also 

 another bearing. The fauna of Japan presents great resemblances 

 to the European faunas ; and when we consider that the salamander 

 of the schists of CEningen was found with remains of fishes which 

 do not differ from the species at present living in our lakes and 

 rivers, we may suppose that the great Batrachian which formerly 

 lived in the waters of Central Europe is the very same that still lives 



• In a work entitled ' Les recentes Explorations de la Chine,' we have 

 noticed the indications transmitted to us by M. lAbb^ David. 

 t Comptes Eendus, tome Ixxii. p. 807. 



