No. 403.] A REMARKABLE AXOLOTL. 561 
The “tail,” or post-abdomen, is compressed, and it is con- 
siderably less in cross-section than the trunk; this disparity is 
greater here than in adults. _Its outline is unlike that of other 
axolotls and of the adult A. ¢igrinum ; in them it gently tapers 
from the base; here it is almost parallel-sided till the tip is 
nearly reached, when the taper is rapid. In this point the tail 
is decidedly different from the Montana forms. 
A complete dissection of the viscera has not been made, but 
enough has been seen by cutting through the body wall and 
pushing the parts aside to show that the organs generally are 
as in the adult salamander. This was seen to be true of the 
alimentary organs, the lungs, and the urogenital system. The 
lungs are fully developed on both sides. The specimen is a 
female, and the ovaries are fully ripe and contain the usual vast 
number of eggs, each having a diameter of about 2mm. The 
oviducts are greatly twisted and dilated with albuminous 
material to be used in egg laying. These organs both agree 
in appearance with adult females of A. tigrinum, ready for 
spawning, which have been often met in the laboratory. The 
maturity of these organs and the simultaneous larval condition 
of so many other parts are convincing proof that the specimen 
isa true axolotl. It is not credible that the animal could have 
undergone transformation of its other parts before the eggs 
Should have been laid. 
The spawning season for Amblystoma is very early in the 
spring; often the spawn is found in the ponds while they are 
still frozen in places, and this specimen caught in the last of 
March was just in readiness for the spawning act. It is inter- 
esting to note here that some of the specimens from Montana 
are also in a condition of activity of the reproductive organs, 
as is shown by the recognition of Spermatozoa in the males, 
and ripe ova in the females. These facts are the only ones on 
record, so far as I am aware, going to prove that the American 
forms are like the Mexican axolotl and in their native state 
reproduce while still larval in form. 
Since this specimen is the only one of which we have any 
knowledge, it seems premature to speculate on its signifi- 
cance in connection with the axolotl question, and I have 
