ORDERS OF AMPHIBIA. 413 



The development of the Newts is so like that of the Frogs 

 that it is unnecessary to dilate further upon it here • but there 

 are these two points of difference to be noticed : — istly, That 

 the embryonic tail is not cast off in the adult ; and, 2dly, That 

 the fore-limbs are developed sooner than the hind-limbs — ^the 

 reverse of this being the case amongst the Anoura. 



Fig. 158. — Great Water-newt {Triton cristaius) — after Bell. 



The Land-salamanders form the genus Salamandra, and are 

 distinguished from their aquatic brethren by having a cylindri- 

 cal instead of a compressed tail, and by bringing forth their 

 young alive, or by being ovo-viviparous, in which case the 

 larvae have sometimes shed their external branchise prior to 

 birth. The head is thick, the tongue broad, and the palatine 

 teeth in two long series. The skin is warty, with many glands 

 secreting a watery fluid. The best-known species is the S. 

 maculosa of Southern Europe. Another species (.5'. alfind) 

 lives upon lofty mountains. The chief thing to remember 

 about the Land-salamanders, and, indeed, about all the Uro- 

 dela, is their complete distinctness from the true Lizards (Lacer- 

 tilid). They are often completely lizard-like in form when adult, 

 but they always possess gills in the earlier stages of their exist- 

 ence, and this distinguishes them from all the Lacertilians. 



Order IIL Anoura ( = ^fl^rfl:(r/4zfl;, Huxley ; Theriomorpha, 

 Owen ; Chelonobatrachia, &c.) — This order includes the Frogs 

 and Toads, and is perhaps Ijest designated by the name of 

 Anoura, or " Tail-less "" Amphibians. The name Batrachia, 

 employed by Huxley, is inexpedient, partly because it is used 

 by Owen to designate the entire class Amphibia, and partly 

 because, in common language, it is usual to tmderstand by a 

 "Batrachian" any of the ^gher Amphibians — such, for instance, 

 as a Labyrinthodont. 



The Anoura, or Tail-less Amphibians, are characterised by 

 the following points : — The adult is destitute of both gills and 

 tail, both of which stmctures exist in tlie larva, whilst the two 



