8 SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF SAN ANTONIO 



attain a length of ten inches. The color is variable. In life 

 the back is livid blackish brown with spots or elongated blotches 

 of yellow. In some specimens, these markings are almost en- 

 tirely absent, in others, they almost obscure the ground color. 

 Both adult and larval tiger salamanders are known as "water 

 dogs." Specimens of the larvae from the Texas plains region 

 are fully as large as good sized Mexican axolotls but lack the 

 black punctulations. These larval specimens' are very abundant 

 in the ponds and small lakes of the plains and trans-Peeos re<- 

 gions and probably also in most of the southwestern counties. 



The tiger salamander breeds early in the year. In the dry 

 season, the adults retire to the deserted habitations of prairie 

 dogs, badgers and other burrowing mammals but usually make 

 their reappearance on the occasion of the first heavy shower. 

 The metamorphosis from the larval to the land form takes place 

 late in the summer, usually about the last of August. Accord- 

 ing to Cope, the larvae are very rapacious, eating animal food 

 and taking the hook readily. Examples from ponds near Bar- 

 stow, Texas, are unusually large and plump, while those from 

 a deep, rock-bound water pocket in an adjoining county are more 

 slender and only about half the size. The cold water and the 

 scantiness of the food supply in this water pocket probably re- 

 tarded their development. 



All of the tiger salamanders from Bexar County that I 

 have personally examined, were collected in the Helotes neigh- 

 borhood by Mr. Marnock. One adult and one larval specimen 

 are in the collection of the Scientific Society and three adults 

 and one larval specimen in the Baylor Museum. 



5. Plethodon glutinosus (Green) Slimy Salamander 



Salamandra glutinosa Green, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila., Vol. 1, part 2, Sept. 1818, p. 357 

 This salamander is entirely terrestrial in its habits and 

 does not enter the water to breed but deposits its eggs in damp 

 places in the woods. It usually haunts rocky localities and is 

 most abundant in the mountain districts of the eastern States. 

 The total length of a well grown adult is from five and a half 

 to six inches. The color is black or bluish black. "The upper 

 parts and sides are marked with well-defined specks of a gray- 

 ish-silvery color, looking like torn pieces of foil. These vary 

 with the specimen, but are generally more numerous and larger 

 on the sides. The underparts are sometimes finely dotted with 

 whitish, but this is usually the effect of the whitish glands seen 

 through the integument. The under part of the tail is a pale 

 bluish gray. A light spot on the chin Form stout, the 



