702 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [VoL. XXXIII. 
only, the term allantoic gills, first used by Gage ('90), I believe, 
is strictly applicable here. They begin at once to wither away 
when the embryo emerges from the capsule, the circulation 
being apparently cut off from them at that time. We placed 
one embryo in water immediately after its hatching and kept 
it there for some time, but could detect no trace of circulation 
in the gills, though it was always easily seen there during the 
intra-capsular life. 
(3) The Entire Absence of a Larval Period of Life. — The 
young, at the time of hatching, possess none of the charac- 
ters of aquatic amphibian larvee. The external gills have, as 
already said, begun to wither and are not functional after the 
animal leaves the capsule. The gill-slits are imperforate, at 
least during the stages examined by us. 
No suggestion of a dorsal and tail fin is present at any stage 
of development that has come under our observation. The 
tail is at all times as nearly round in section as is that of the 
adult. The just-hatched individuals, placed in water, appeared 
much distressed and were quite unable to swim. They sank 
immediately to the bottom and remained there until removed 
from the water. 
The integumentary sense organs that are apparently inva- 
riably present in all aquatic urodele larvz are, so far as we have 
been able to determine, entirely wanting here. We have care- 
fully examined the skin both from the surface and on sections, 
and for various stages of growth, and always with negative 
results. Fig. 7 represents a specimen shortly after its escape 
from the capsule. The gills have almost entirely disappeared, 
and the abdominal walls are nearly closed over the yolk-sac. 
This specimen was 32 mm. long at hatching. 
The color characters which distinguish the young during the 
first year have already been described. These are already 
“assumed before escape, and are retained apparently until some 
time during the second year, when the almost black ground- 
work is changed to the dusky brown of the adult, and the fine 
silver specking is replaced by the much larger and less numer- 
ous yellow spots that mark the sides of the body of many 
of the adults, 
