THE PROTEUS, 455 
bears a close analogy to the gorgeous nuptial plumage of many birds, which 
at other times are dressed in quite sober garments. 
The Newt feeds upon small worms, insects, and similar creatures, and 
may be’ captured by the simple process of tying a worm on a thread by the 
middle, so as to allow both ends to hang down, and then angling as if for fish. 
The Newt is a ravenous creature, and when it catches a worm, closes its 
mouth so firmly that it may be neatly landed before it loosens its hold. Some 
writers recommend a hook, but I can assert, from much practical experience, 
that the hook is quite needless, and that the Newt may be captured by the 
simple worm and thread, not even a rod being required. 
It is curious to see the Newt eat a worm. It seizes it by the middle with 
a sudden snap, as it the jaws were moved by springs, and remains quiet for a 
few seconds, when it makes another snap, which causes the worm to pass 
farther into its mouth. Six or seven such bites are usually required before 
the worm finally disappears. 
The skin or epidermis of the Newt is very delicate, and is frequently changed, 
coming off in the water in flakes. I found that my dwn specimens always 
changed their skin as often as I changed the water, and it was very curious to 
see them swimming about with the flakes of transparent membrane clinging to 
their sides. The skin 
of the paws is drawn 
off just like a glove, 
every finger being per- 
fect, and even the little 
wrinkles in the palms 
being marked. These 
gloves look very pretty 
as they float in the 
water, but if removed 
they collapse into a = 
shapeless lump. PROTEUS. — (Proteus anguinus.) 
The food of the Newt 
consists of worms, insects, and even the young of aquatic reptiles. I have 
seen a large male Crested Newt make a savage dart at a younger individual 
of the same species, but it did not succeed in eating the intended victim. 
THE next order of Crawling Batrachians is called by the name of 
MEANTIA, and contains a very few but very remarkable species. In all these 
creatures the body is long and smooth, without scales, and the gills are very 
conspicuous, retaining their position throughout the life of the animal. 
There are always two or four limbs furnished with toes, but these members 
are very weak, and indeed rudimentary, and both the palate and the lower 
jaw are toothed. 
The first example of this order is the celebrated PROTEUS, discovered by 
the Baron de Zois, in the extraordinary locality in which it dwells. 
At Adelsberg, in the Duchy of Carniola, is a most wonderful cavern, called 
the Grotto of the Maddalena, extending many hundred feet below the 
surface of the earth, and consequently buried in the profoundest darkness. 
In this cavern exists a little lake, roofed with stalactites, surrounded with 
masses of rock, and floored with a bed of soft mud, upon which the Proteus 
may be seen crawling uneasily, as if endeavouring to avoid the unwelcome 
light by which its presence is known. These creatures are not always to be 
found in the lake, though after heavy rains they are tolerably abundant, and 
the road by which they gain admission is at present a mystery. 
The theory of Sir H. Davy is, “that their natural residence is a deep subter- 
raneous lake, from which in great floods they are sometimes forced through 
GGe2 
