4354 Dublin Natural History Society. 



inside of a pellucid opal-coloured sac. During the two following days she deposited 

 about a dozen more ; they were arranged in strings of four to six, adhering in rows, 

 and intertwined among the long floating roots, and also through the axils of the 

 leaves, but in no instance could I find them deposited singly in the folded edges of 

 the leaves, as Bell states, and Mr. Higginbottom asserts, is necessary for their preser- 

 vation : Bell indeed states that they are sometimes placed in the axils of the leaves. 

 The female, when depositing the ovum, wound her tail round the roots of the plant, as 

 if to anchor herself. Of the ova produced, I distributed among my friends all but 

 two ; these I placed in a small bottle of water in a window facing the S. W., in a room 

 of the temperature of from 60 p to 70° F. ; they were soon hatched, the one on the 3rd 

 of June, the other on the 5th. This appears to contradict Mr. Higginbottom's state- 

 ment, that the ova must be folded up in a leaf, and thus protected from the free access 

 of the water, as these ova were hatched while lying at the bottom of the vessel, and 

 had been knocking about for several hours in a small bottle in my pocket, previously 

 to having been placed in the window. I do not mean to assert that the ova are not 

 deposited also singly in the folded leaves, but merely that they are not necessarily so. 

 The progress of their further metamorphosis has been so well described by Bell, that a 

 lengthened description on my part were superfluous ; suffice it to state, that the newts 

 lived with me for fourteen days from the day they were hatched, and five weeks from 

 their extrusion as ova ; they then died, and at this period the most forward had the 

 anterior extremities well formed, and the situation of the posterior marked by a protu- 

 berance on each side. 



" With respect to fecundation, my experience with regard to this species goes to 

 corroborate the opinion of Professor Bell, as opposed to that of Rusconi and others, 

 including Mr. Higginbottom. 



" With respect to its distribution, this species is found throughout this entire 

 country, even at considerable elevations above the sea. I have found them near the 

 summit of Howth, and in every quarry-hole among the Dublin and Wicklow moun- 

 tains. It is known by various names: in its aquatic state as man-keepers, man-eaters, 

 dark-lewkers, daddy-lewkers, and art-lewkers ; and in its terrestrial stage as the dry 

 ask and lizard. It is much earlier in awaking from its hibernation and seeking the 

 water here than in the midland counties of England. I generally find them in the 

 ponds in the Bishop's Fields about the second week in February. In other parts of 

 Ireland they are pretty generally distributed : Thompson states, " occurring from 

 North to South, but not generally distributed ;" and in his Comparative List, he re- 

 cords it for Belfast, Dublin, and the West. There are numerous specimens of this 

 species, obtained in the North, in the Ordnance Survey collection, now in the Museum 

 of Irish Industry. I have obtained it in, or received specimens from, the following 

 places : — North of Clare, rare ; Tipperary North, scarce ; South, common ; King's 

 County, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford ; Kilkenny, upon the authority of the Rev. J. 

 Graves, who informs me it there goes by the name of dark lewker, which, he suggests, 

 is derived cither from dearc, a reptile, and leucair, brightness, that is, the shining rep- 

 tile ; or from leuacrac, a rush, that is, the reptile dwelling in rushy places : by this 

 name it is known all over Ireland. It is also, I am informed, found in Louth and the 

 Queen's County. It is omitted from the Catalogue of the Cork Cuvierian Society, 

 and I searched for it unsuccessfully about Youghal and Ardmorc, though I have rea- 

 son to believe it is found in part, at least, of the County Waterford. Nulty, in his 

 ' Natural History of Dublin,' mentions this animal among the quadrupeds, in its two 



