338 MR. E. G. BOULENGER ON THE 



Some speemiens with the markings almost vermilion-red, instead 

 of yellow or orange, obtained by Fr. v. Schweizerbath near 

 Stuttgart, are regarded by her as a distinct variety and named 

 var. coccinea (28), but this is clearly to be regarded as a merely 

 individual peculiarity, not deserving of a varietal name, and the 

 figure given by her corresponds, but for the colours of the markings, 

 with the var. tceniata, the prevalent form round Stuttgart. Con- 

 sidering that the bright markings may vary, in the same locality, 

 from chrome-yellow to a deep orange, the so-called var. coccinea 

 represents merely an intensification of a tendency existing in 

 German specimens. Fr. v. Schweizei-bath has been informed by 

 Prof. E. Haeckel that such a Salamander was found by him many 

 years ago in the Saal Valley, near Ziegenriick, and it is not un- 

 likely that vermilion-spotted specimens will be discovered in other 

 parts of the habitat of the var. tceniata. My father was informed 

 by an intelligent peasant woman in Belgium that on the occasion 

 of her witnessing, in a wood, just before a thunderstorm, a sudden 

 apparition of Salamanders in huge numbers, some among them 

 were distinguished by being marked with red instead of yellow. 

 In D'Orbigny's ' Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle ' (7, p. 307) 

 allusion is made to a specimen found near Bordeaux, which must 

 have been similar to the one described by Fr. v. Schweizerbath. 

 In Belgium, the mai-kings are of a more or less bright yellow but 

 not orange, and in most cases they form interrupted stripes. In 

 Brittany the markings vary from sulphur- to chrome-yellow. Out 

 of 50 specimens obtained together, within a space of one hundred 

 square yards, last summer at RoscofF, about half had the stripes 

 uninterrupted but varying much in width. M. Ghidini, of the 

 Geneva Museum, having had occasion to examine 500 specimens 

 received alive from Stadtoldendorf in Brunswick, found that 

 about 400 had the two parallel stripes uninterrupted, or nearly 

 so, 50 had them much bioken up, whilst the remaining 50 were 

 nearly entirely yellow, with the black reduced to spots or narrow 

 stripes. The specimens from the Harz and neighbouring hills, of 

 which I have seen many, vary in the colour of the markings from 

 chrome-yellow to a rather deep orange. 



A male specimen from the Harz, in Avhich the yellow colour 

 prevails, is represented on Plate XY. 



Figures of the var. tceniata are given by "VVurf bain (33), Gesner 

 (13, ii. p. 80), Perrault (21, pk 16. p. 77), Duvernoy (11, pi. xl. 

 fig. 1), Mme. Phisalix (22, pi. i.), and Diirigen(10, p. 577). The 

 descriptions of Leydig (19), Lataste (16), and Martin and Rollinat 

 (20) are also applicable to it, as well as the var. B of Dumeril and 

 Bibron (9) and the vars./to k of Schreiber (27). 



Five specimens are represented in text-fig. 102, to give some 

 idea of the variations in the markings : — 



a, from the Harz, is exceptional in having the spots much 

 reduced in size ; spots on the belly ninnerous, moderately 

 large and roundish. 



h, from Maredsous, Belgium, represents the condition most 



