


1891.] The Vermilion-Spotted Newt. 1095 
During the transformation from the gilled aquatic to the gill-less 
terrestrial state the gill slits grow up, and the stratified, non- 
ciliated, oral epithelium of the aquatic larva is changed for a 
ciliated epithelium. The vermilion spots have one or more black 
pigment blotches bordering them, but there is rarely, if ever, a 
complete black ring around them as in the larger specimens 
(Pl. XXIII., Fig. 5). The spots differ in size, shape, and some- 
what in arrangement in different specimens; in some the number 
on the two sidesis different (Pl. XXIII., Figs. 4, 8). The gen- 
eral coloration of the body is almost always lighter on the 
ventral than on the dorsal portion, and differs greatly in different 
specimens. In some specimens it is a bright color in which the 
yellow is very prominent, in others the shade is more red, and 
in still others it is a dingy reddish brown. As shown in Fig. 7, 
the area of deeper dorsal red corresponds closely with the area 
that becomes viridescent in the adult form. As to the seat of the 
coloration, it is mostly due to the network of branched cells under 
the epidermis. The cells of the epidermis at the opening of the 
cutaneous glands—~z. e., at the summits of the papillze or tubercles 
—sometimes become brownish, and in specimens that have not 
moulted for some time give a dingy look. 
It is a curious fact that in these red forms and in the adult 
green ones the so-called fat-body is almost invariably of the color 
of the skin on the ventral portion of the body, and under the 
microscope shows reddish bodies almost exactly the color of the 
coloring matter in the chromatophores under the epidermis. The 
vermilion spots are produced by a deeper or redder coloration of 
the chromatophores. With the micro-spectroscope no distinctive 
absorption bands were found. 
The food during the terrestrial life consisted of spiders, insects 
and insect larvae, and earthworms. The larger red specimens in 
captivity take earthworms with great readiness. In nature the 
red ones live in situations, mostly at a considerable distance from 
water, and as well remarked by Baird (’51), is the most terrestrial 
of all the American salamanders. It is found under sticks and 
stones, and especially under rotten logs and in moist woods. It is 



