104 SALAMANDRA FASCIATA. 



lower of similar colour, but lighter. The body is also palest ash colour above, 

 marked with irregular blotches of bluish-black placed transversely, and the abdomen 

 is uniform indigo blue; the tail is pale ash colour on its supei'ior surface, and 

 marked with transverse bars of bluish-black. 



Habits. This is a true land Salamander, and one of the most beautiful of the 

 genus; I have kept them alive for many months in a box filled with meadow 

 moss, (sphagnum,) which was occasionally moistened; and it was remarkable that 

 they always chose the superior surface of the moss for their resting place, while 

 their fellow prisoner, the Salamandra venenosa, was always found deeply buried. 



Geographical Distribution. The Salamandra fasciata has been found in various 

 parts of the Atlantic as well as the western states, from latitude 32° to latitude 

 42°; Dr. Blanding has seen it at Camden, in South Carolina; Dr. M'Murtrie 

 says it is common in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia; Professor Green first 

 observed it in New Jersey; Dr. Storer has seen it in Massachusetts; and Dr. 

 Binney in Vermont, who furnished me with the fine living animal from which the 

 accompanying plate was taken. In the western states I have at this moment but 

 one locality to give. Marietta, in Ohio, from which place Dr. Hildreth sent 

 specimens to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia; yet, doubtless, it 

 is common throughout the west. 



General Remarks. The Salamandra fasciata was first observed, and accurately 

 described by Professor Green, of Philadelphia, who has done so much to elucidate 

 the history of this obscure family of reptiles; and it is remarkable that so large 

 and beautiful an animal should so long have escaped the observation of our 

 Herpetologists. 



