2266 Reptiles. 



inlet of the sea, about sixteen miles to the east of Cape Wrath, in the north coast of 

 Sutherland, celebrated for the grandeur and wildness of its scenery. The heather 

 which clothes the hills that slope down to its banks, conceals, for the most part, the 

 grooves and scratches made by the last of the icebergs that rounded them to their pre- 

 sent shape ; steep mounds of broken fragments may still mark the spots where they 

 grounded, and as their soft parts shrunk and disappeared, left only their skeletons to 

 the present day, whilst the distant head of the loch is crowned by perpendicular cliffs, 

 backed by lofty mountains — the birthright of the red deer and the eagle. Of the 

 newts I found in this interesting locality, the male had still his spring dress, though 

 it seemed in a retrograde state. In that far north latitude the tadpoles of the frog 

 were still in the water, though some of them had acquired their four legs. A month 

 later I found some very young newts, which are probably of this species, under stones 

 by the side of ponds, within a mile or two of John o' Groat's house or its site, accom- 

 panied as usual by young frogs. In Orkney I learnt nothing of it, but it may be 

 there. In Shetland I was assured no reptiles exist. 



It has been a great pleasure to me to find my notice in the ' Zoologist ' (Zool. 

 2149) followed up by such interesting papers as those of Mr. Baker, Mr. Newman, and 

 M. Deby. Mr. Baker has established his claim to the prior discovery in this country ; 

 Mr. Newman showed the probable state of the case with respect to nomenclature,* 



* My somewhat hasty remarks were only printed on the wrapper, and I had no in- 

 tention of reprinting them, seeing that M. Deby has treated the matter in so much 

 abler a manner. Mr. Wolley, however, having done me the honour of mentioning 

 my conjectures with approbation, I venture to repeat them here, in order to make the 

 matter more intelligible when the volume is bound and the wrappers consequently 

 destroyed. 



" Description of a Species of Newt." — Papers thus headed have lately appeared in 

 the ' Zoologist' (Zool. 2149 and 2198). On reading the first of these, and various 

 memoranda also sent me by Mr. Wolley, I felt convinced that a new species of newt 

 had been discovered. Mr. Baker's observation that a friend of his entertains the 

 opinion that " Lissotriton punctatus and L. palmipes are one species " (Zool. 2198), 

 has induced me to consider the subject more carefully : I have also duly weighed Mr. 

 Bell's opinion, that Mr. Baker's newt is a " species undoubtedly distinct, and abso- 

 lutely new not only to this country but to science." The result of my inquiry leads 

 me to dissent from Mr. Wolley's opinion, that the newt is in any respect a novelty ; 

 from the opinion of Mr. Baker's friend, that Lissotriton punctatus and L. palmipes 

 are one species ; and from Mr. Bell's opinion, that Mr. Baker's newt is new to science. 

 I rather incline to believe, first, that Mr. Wolley's newt, as well as Mr. Baker's, is the 

 Triton palmipes of continental authors ; the very name seems to carry conviction with 

 it on this point : secondly, that palmipes and punctatus are perfectly and permanently 

 distinct, the first always having palmated feet, the last never : thirdly, that Mr. Bell 

 has unfortunately described and figured punctatus twice, i. e. under its proper name 

 of punctatus (' British Reptiles,' p. 132) and under that of palmipes (Id. 139), a cir- 

 cumstance which possibly may have led British naturalists to doubt the distinctness 

 of the species known on the Continent by these names. Mr. Bell's figure of Mr. 

 Gray's Triton vittatus exhibits a hind foot semi-palmate, and would lead to the sup- 

 position that it might have been drawn from an injured specimen of palmipes, had 



