4244 Notices of New Books. 



The very discussion of a name on the ground that it might be ex- 

 changed for a prettier, a more descriptive, or a more classical name, 

 implies the possession of a choice which is vested in no man. We 

 are perfectly open to conviction on this, and, we trust, on every other 

 subject ; but the law of priority appears to us so binding and so 

 beneficial in its working, that no argument we have hitherto heard 

 induces in us the slightest disposition to question its propriety. 



At the present moment, we hold that no received name can be 

 rejected, even in favour of a better. But were we to renounce this 

 prima facie objection to new names, and confine ourselves simply to 

 the meaning of the new names now under consideration, we think it 

 would be utterly impossible to select three Latin words less distinc- 

 tive or descriptive of the three species. The word " asper " conveys 

 to any one conversant with the Latin tongue the idea of a property 

 w r hich none of our newts possess ; the word " laevis " does not in any 

 way distinguish the species so called from the next species, " minor," 

 and several others which are equally " smooth ;" and the name " mi- 

 nor " simply expresses comparative smallness, without suggesting the 

 object with which the animal so called is to be compared. To as- 

 cend from names to the objects themselves, we may state that Mr. 

 Higginbottom has drawn from actual observation, eight conclusions, 

 which we unhesitatingly accept as highly probable and extremely 

 valuable, even while we are prepared carefully and candidly to weigh 

 all counter evidence. These conclusions are the following : — 



" 1. That there are only two species of Triton in the midland coun- 

 ties of England. 



" 2. That the tadpole of the Triton remains in the water until the 

 branchiae are absorbed, and the legs become sufficiently strong to en- 

 able it to leave that element, and does not usually return to it again 

 until the expiration of the third year. 



" 3. That during three years it is a land animal, in a state of acti- 

 vity in the summer, and of hibernation during the winter. 



" 4. That the Triton is three years before it propagates its species, 

 and four years in arriving at its full growth. 



" 5. That it revisits the water in the spring for the purpose of re- 

 production, and leaves it early in autumn. 



" 6. That fecundation is accomplished through the medium of 

 water, and not by actual contact. 



" 7. That a very dry or a very wet situation are both fatal to the 

 Triton when in a state of hibernation. 



