106 



FEESH-WATEE AQUARIA. 



ungraceful either in form or in movement. It is provided 

 with lungs as well as gills, and is therefore able to breathe 

 both below and above water. The tail of the Axolotl is 

 flattened on each side like that of the triton, and is supplied 

 with a semi-transparent membranous fin. The head is flat 

 and broad, and the muzzle blunt. The eyes ai'e small and 

 the mouth wide. There are four digits on the front feet, and 

 flve on the hind. 



The Axolotl, or Siredon as it is sometimes called, lives 

 apparently very happily in the aquarium, soon becoming 

 tame enough to take food from its master's flngers. It is not 

 necessary to provide it with an island, as it prefers to remain 



."^^ 



Fig. 86. Ambltstome (Amblysioma mexicanus). 



in some shady retreat at the bottom of the tank. Occa- 

 sionally, however, it comes to the surface of the water for 

 atmospheric air (desiring, I suppose, a change of air), 

 making as it does so the same "popping" noise as the 

 newt under like circumstances ; and sometimes it remains 

 stationary in mid-water in an almost perpendicular attitude, 

 head pointing upwards. The Siredon has a very good 

 appetite and will live entirely upon garden worms and raw 

 meat. Nevertheless, it is quite ready to make a meal of a 

 small fish or a young newt. One day, for instance, I placed 

 two young tritons, about four months old, in a tank which 

 contained a pair of Axolotls, and a little wliile afterwards 

 on looking for the former to remove them I could only find 

 one. I hunted under every piece of weed and behind the 

 rockwork in vain for the other, and was about to give the 



