I 



n~ke Artificial Production of Albinism 



EDGAR R. WAITE, F. L. S. 



Director of the South Australian Museum 







Amblystoma tigrinum 



Larval form or Axolotl 



« — 4 



It is within common experience that 

 Axolotls kept in captivity are apt to pro- 

 duce colorless offspring ; the fact has 

 been mentioned in Aquatic Life (Vol. I, 

 p. 130), as has also the record of an 

 albino frog (Vol. 11, p. 132). 



The South Australian summer of 1919- 

 20 was characterized by a rapid succes- 

 sion of extremes of temperature, and to 

 this circumstance is attributed our com- 

 parative failure in breeding axolotls dur- 

 ing this season. Several pairs produced 

 eggs, but in nearly all cases they failed 

 to develop. One female laid about thirty 

 eggs of which only two hatched, all the 

 others dying in various stages within the 

 eggs. 



The two survivors are both colorless, 

 the only indication of color being minute 

 dots distributed over the body ; the pupils 



of the eyes appear to be pink, but are 

 each surrounded with a dark ring, for 

 which appearance the hard fibrous 

 sclerotic coat may be responsible. The 

 beating of the heart and the course of the 

 blood and food systems can be easily 

 traced, while the difference in the color 

 of the blood in the efferent and afferent 

 vessels of the gills conveying respectivelv 

 venous and arterial fluid furnishes an in- 

 teresting object lesson. 



It is not, however, to describe the ap- 

 pearance of a colorless axolotl that I now 

 write, but rather to vaguely indicate a 

 possible reason for the peculiar condition 

 in these batrachians. The term "albin- 

 ism" should denote an entire absence of 

 color, either locally or generally. The 

 little dots above referred to would sug- 

 gest, not an absence of pigment, but 



