LIZARD. 



legs without blucifli, witliin ycUow ; a fringe extending 

 from the head to the tip of the tail. 



Pai.ustris ; Waned ncwl. Body blackifli ; fides 

 fpeckled with white ; belly orange, with irregular black 

 foots. This iprcics is fmall, and bears a confiderable refem- 

 blance to the falamar.der. It is from (Ive to fix inches in 

 length. The tail is flat, with thin (harp edges, and tcrnii- 

 nating in a point ; on each fide of it in the male there is a iil- 

 verv white broad band, accompanied with a bluciih tinge. 

 This tlripe and the dorfalcrelt are fometimes w anting in the 

 female. 



It is found in many parts of Europe, but is rarely fccn in 

 .Britain. It frequents llagnant waters in cool and ihndy 

 places, and lives entirely on infers. It is faid to be entirely 

 -harmlefs with regard to larger animals, but that a fluid is 

 exuded from its Ikin which ieems to aft as a poifon on fmall 

 animals. 



Lacustkis ; 'Fenny newt. Of this fpecies there are 

 feveral varieties, i. Black-; tail lanceolate, middle-fized. 

 2. Much larger ; fpotted with black. 3. Variegated white 

 and yellow, and fpotted with black. 4. Tuberculate ; chin 

 fpeckled ; belly fpotted ; tip of the tail red. 5. Tuber- 

 culate ; belly faffron colour. 6 Head round ; black 

 'fpotted with pale yellow. 7. Black with whitifh bands. 

 6. Black ; beneath dotted with white. This fpecies, which 

 is found in many parts of the world, is very deftrudlive of 



fifii. . .• . 



Aquatic.a ; "Water-newt. Tail roundifh, middle-flzed ; 

 there are likewife varieties ; brown or yellowidi ; and one 

 'with a dorfal line dotted with white and black ; the fu-(l is 

 found in many parts of Europe ; the fecond inhabits France ; 

 .and the third in Germany. 



It lives in pools, ditches, and ftagnant waters, and is killed 

 in three minutes if fait be fprinklcd upon it. The body is 

 fpougy, blackiih dotted with black ; chin rough ; back fub- 

 crefted ; tail fmooth, fpeckled with a longitudinal white 

 "ilripeon each fide. 



The general length of this fpecies is from three to four 

 -inches. The male is readily diftinguifhed from the female by 

 a confpicuous dorfal creil, which js more elevated, and more 

 regularly finuated than that of the paluftris. The broad 

 creil is very tranfparent, and when examined by a magnify- 

 ing-glafs {h«ws the ramifications of the bloodveflels and the 

 'circulation of the blood. In the female the dorfal creft is 

 nearly wanting. The fi)re.foet are tetradaftylous ; but the 

 4iind-feet Irave five toes, and in all, the claws are wanting ; 

 but vnth regard to colour, the breadth of the tail, and that 

 of the toes, water-newts difli^er at different feafonsof the year, 

 in different Hates of the weather, and lomctimes a confiderable 

 \ariation is obfcrved even in the courfe of the fame day. 



This fpecies is very common in ftagnant waters. It 

 breeds early in the fpring, and depofits fmall oblong firings 

 cr chillers of fpawn. The ova are of a kidney fliape, and 

 the larva; are ready formed, and may be fecn aftive and 

 fportiijg before they leave the gluten. They extricate them- 

 (elves in about ten days, and when they are firfl: excluded, 

 the branchial fins are diftinftly fcen, and foon after their 

 fore-legs appear. In a fortnight the hind-legs are viftblc, 

 ^nd in about four or five montiis the branchial fins become 

 obliterated, and the animal afiumcs a perfect fo(;m. In the 

 larva (late, the animal has the appearance of a fmall fifii. It 

 calls its Ikin, v.-hich may be found floating on the waters 

 V.hich it frequents, and is fometimes fo perfeft as to repre- 

 fcnt the whole fcjrm of the complete animal. The repro- 

 ^iiftive power of this fptcies of lizard has been noticed as a 

 Tery Uriking circumflance in natural hiilory. They have 

 iscen kaoivji to have their legs, tails, and even their eyes 



reftored after they have been deftroyed. It has alfo bceii 

 afcert^ined that water-newts have been completely eucloted 

 ill a mals of folid ice, in which they have remained feveral 

 weeks, and yet upon a thaw the little animals have been 

 reftored to thi^r former health and vigour. We may mention 

 in conneftion with this a fpecies defcribcd by Dr. Shaw, de- 

 nominated the 



Lf.vkrian Water newt ; of which there was a good fpc- 

 cimen in the Levcrian mufeum. The total length of this is 

 17, inches, and its tail is about fix or feven inches of it. 

 The head is flattened, the mouth moderately wide, and the 

 upper jaw is furniflied in front with two concentric rows of 

 numerous, (mall, briilly teeth. The under jaw has only a 

 fingle r w. The eyes are fmall, round, fituated on each 

 fide of the front of the head, fo that they are remote from 

 each other. The colour is pale brown, marked with darker 

 variegations. The legs are about an inch in length, and 

 they are all furniflied, along their whole length behind with 

 a dilated fliin or creil. The tail is like that of a common 

 water-newt, but ihorter and not fo deeply finned. 



.SAL.\MASnR.\ ; Salam.andcr. The Ipecific character of 

 this aftimal is, colour black, fpotted with golden yellow ; 

 tail round, and of moderate length. Of this fpecies there 

 are, befides the one defcribed, fome entirely black ; fome 

 brown ; fome white ; and fome fmall, brown ; with a tail in 

 fome degree i omprcfled. The falamander, fo long the fub- 

 jeft of popular error, and of which fo many idle tales have 

 been recited by the more ancient naturalills, is an inhabitant 

 of many parts of Germany, Italy, Fr;ince, Sec. but lias not 

 been difcovcred in England. It deligiits in moill and ihady 

 places, and during winter conceals itfelf in reccfles under 

 ground, in the cavities of old walls, or about the roots of 

 old trees. It is eafily diftinguifliable by its fine colours ; 

 being of a deep fliining black, variegated with large, irre- 

 gular patches of bright orange-yellow ; which on each lide 

 the back are commonly fo dilpofed, as to form a pair of in- 

 terrupted longitudinal ilripes ; on each fide of the back of 

 the head is fituated a pair of large tubercles, which are in 

 reality the parotid glands, that are protuberant not only in 

 this and other fpecies of the Lacerta genus, but in a remark- 

 able manner in the Ranaor frog tribe. See Rana. 



Thefe parts, as well as the back and fides of the body, are 

 befet in the falamander with feveral large open pores, 

 through v\hi(-li a peculiar fluid is exuded, ferving to lubricate 

 the fl<in, and which, on any fudden irritation, is fecreted in 

 a more fudden and copious manner under the form of a white 

 gluten of a flightly actimcnious nature ; and from the readi- 

 nefswith which the animal, when dilturbed, appears to eva- 

 cuate it, has arifen the long continued popular error of the 

 falamanders being enabled to live uninjured in tiie fire, which 

 it has been fuppofed capable of extinguiflung by its natural 

 coldncfs and moifture ; the real fadt is this, that like the 

 other cold and glutinous animals, as fiiails, frogs, &c. it is 

 not quite fo inilantaneoufly dellroycd by the force of fire as 

 an animal of a drier nature would be. The general length of 

 the falamander is about feven inches, though it fometimes 

 arrives at a much larger fize. It lives principally on infefts, 

 fmall fnails, 5:c. ; its tongue is not by any means formed to 

 catcii thefe in a fudden manner, being fltort, broad, and in 

 fome degree confined, fo as not to be darted out with cele. 

 rity. it is capable of living in water as well as on the land, 

 and is found occafionally in ilagnant pools. Its pace is flow, 

 and its habits torpid. 'J'he falamander is viviparous, and ihe 

 young are produced perfectly formed, in the lame way as the 

 viper. It is faid to retire into the water to depofit its young, 

 the number of which at one birth amounts to 30 or 40 ; 

 when they are firlt excluded, they are iurnilhed witli bran- 

 chial 



