HERPETOLOGY OP THE GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN. 219 



this element. The vivid hues of Bufo variabilis are not, as might 

 be supposed, characteristic of the breeding season, but are only 

 acquired later — " variabilis" — on the land ; and it may be worth 

 mentioning that the exceptionally acrid fluid in the skin of this 

 species is, as with S. maculosa, confined, like the colour, to the 

 upper surfaces. At all events, I venture to think that, in view 

 of the increased interest now taken in questions of colour, this 

 point is deserving of notice. 



II. Fam. Salamandra. 



1. S. maculosa, Laur. — Plentiful throughout the whole length 

 of the Grand Duchy, except in the woods of the Rhine Valley, 

 where, to the best of my knowledge, it never occurs. I have obtained 

 it in numbers from the wooded hills near Karlsruhe (Rittner-wald, 

 Ettlingen), and throughout the Northern Black Forest. It seems 

 here more abundant — especially in the Murg Valley — than in the 

 southern and higher districts of the Feldberg. Often, as with S. 

 atra t one finds large companies collected together at one point, 

 and may then walk a long way before seeing another specimen. 

 This comes, I fancy, from their all having crawled out of the same 

 retreat prior to separating in different directions, and not from 

 any gregarious or patriarchal disposition. I have not met with 

 this species on the Kaiserstuhl, where several peasants assured 

 me of its existence. This would be an interesting point to 

 determine, as implying an emigration from the Schwarzwald 

 across a stretch of level country ; unless, indeed, it had been 

 purposely liberated there. It is also universally cited for the 

 Palatinate, but must be considerably rarer than in Baden, as I 

 never saw it in any part of the country, in spite of the most 

 propitious weather (five days of uninterrupted rain). It occurs 

 throughout Germany in suitable localities, i. e. f damp and wooded 

 hills, avoiding the cultivated plain and vineyards. 



Baden specimens frequently attain the unusual length of 

 20 cm. The yellow of the spots varies in intensity between light 

 lemon and dark orange. It has been observed that the exclusion 

 of light renders these markings paler and less clearly defined, 

 but there are individual variations irrespective of this cause. 

 The fundamental tint is also of different shades from dark brown 

 to bluish black. The markings seldom develop into the cross- 



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