64 THE ADVENTURES OF 



" If the little ones do not actually kill their mother, at all 

 events they feed on her dead body," I answered. " You will have 

 plenty of opportunities to verify this fact, for these insects are 

 very plentiful in the Terre-Tempirde." 



"Ah ! " cried Lucien, "I was quite right, then, when I called 

 them horrid creatures." 



L'Encuerado, stripping off another piece of bark, exposed to 

 view a salamander, which awkwardly tried to hide itself. 



" You may catch it if you like ; there is nothing to be afraid 

 of," said I to Lucien, who had drawn back in fright. 



'' But it is a scorpion ! " he exclaimed. 



"You are too frightened to see clearly; it is a salamander, an 

 amphibious reptile, of the frog family. The scorpion has eight 

 feet, whilst the salamander, which is much more Hke a lizard, has 

 only four." 



" Are they venomous?" asked Lucien of the Indian. 



" No, Chanito ; Indians (it was well worth while hearing the 

 contempt with which I'Encuerado pronounced this name) are 

 afraid of it ; once, I was afraid of it myself, but your papa has 

 taught me to handle it without the least fear." 



And the hunter placed the salamander in the boy's hand, who 

 cried out — 



" It is as cold as ice, and all sticky." 



" It must be so, as a matter of course ; the salamander, like a 

 fish, is a cold-blooded animal. The viscous humour, which is 

 secreted by the skin of the salamander, is able to protect them 

 for a short time from injury by fire, by means of the same pheno- 

 menon by which a hand, previously wetted, can be plunged into 

 melting iron without burning it.* Thus, an idea has arisen that 

 these batrachians can exist in the midst of flames. Although 

 these poor animals are deaf, nearly blind, and remarkable for 

 their timidity, poets, much to the amusement of naturalists, have 

 chosen the salamander as an emblem of valour." 



Assisted by Sumichrast, I continued the examination of the 

 immense tree, which, being half rotted by the dampness of the 



* TUftTiks tci the spheroidal condition of water, discovered by M. Boutigny 

 (o( Evreux), 



