264 JORDAN. [Vol. V. 



is no direct cloacal contact between the sexes. Spallanzani 

 was in ignorance, however, of the way in which the spermatozoa 

 entered the cloaca of the female, and believed that the sperma- 

 tozoa discharged by the male were diffused in the water and 

 thence found their way to the genital opening of the female. 



Up to about ten years ago there had been few important 

 advances on the facts established by Spallanzani, and there had 

 been serious retrogression in one respect ; namely, that of assum- 

 ing — in the face of Spallanzani's distinct proof to the contrary 

 — a direct cloacal contact. This retrograde step was hastened 

 by v. Siebold's significant discovery of an accumulation of 

 spermatozoa in the cloaca of the female salamander (Sa/a- 

 mandra maculosa) in a sort of, " Rcceptacidum seminis" V. Sie- 

 bold 1 was led to believe that this "receptacle" could be filled 

 with spermatozoa only by means of a true copulation, and this 

 has been until very recently the generally received opinion. 



As regards the American newt, the more obvious phenomena 

 of the breeding season have been long known and commented 

 upon. As spring approaches, a crest appears on the tail of the 

 male, already broader than that of the female, the cloacal 

 regions in both sexes appear somewhat enlarged, and both male 

 and female shine in rather livelier colors. All these external 

 features have been greatly exaggerated by some writers; the 

 general appearance of newts captured in April is not strik- 

 ingly different from that of those captured in October. In one 

 respect, however, the male has added materially to his attrac- 

 tions. All the way up and down the inside of the hind legs, as 

 well as on the adjoining parts of the body, are developed round, 

 black, wart-like elevations. These warts are hard and rough, and 

 undoubtedly aid the male in clasping the female more firmly. 

 They grow yellow and soft and lose their distinctive character 

 soon after the breeding season is past. These black promi- 

 nences were, I believe, first carefully described by Braun, 2 al- 

 though they had been noticed by different observers long before 

 his time. The hind limbs of the male are throughout the year 

 much larger and stouter than the corresponding limbs of the 



1 C. T. v. Siebold, Ueber das Receptaculum seminis der weiblichen Urodelen. 

 Zeitschr. f. wiss. Zoo/., IX., 1858, p. 463. 



2 M. Braun, Ueber aussere Hilfsorgane bei der Begattung von Triton viridescens. 

 Zool. Anz., I., 1878, p. 124. 



