THE SALAMANDER. 2$ 



a general manner is the presence of a tail during the whole stage of 

 their existence. Nevertheless they are subject to the metamorphoses 

 to which all the Amphibians submit. " The division, therefore, of 

 Reptiles," says Professor Rymer Jones, " into such as undergo meta- 

 morphoses and such as do not, is by no means philosophical, although 

 convenient to the zoologist, for all Reptiles undergo a metamorphosis, 

 although not to the same extent. In the one the change from the 

 aquatic to the air-breathing animal is never fully accomplished ; in 

 the tailed Amphibian the change is accomplished after the embryo 

 has escaped from the ovum." 



Salamanders have had the honour of appearing prominently in 

 fabulous narrative. The Greeks believed that they could live in 

 fire, and this error obtained credence so long, that even now it has 

 not been entirely dissipated. Many people are simple enough to 

 believe from the Greek tradition that these innocent animals are 

 fire-proof. The love of the marvellous, fostered and excited by 

 ignorant appeals to superstition, has gone even further than this : it 

 has been asserted that hottest fire becomes extinguished when a 

 Salamander is thrown into it. In the Middle Ages this notion was 

 held by most people, and it would have been dangerous to gainsay 

 it. Salamanders were necessary animals in the conjurations of 

 sorcerers and witches ; accordingly painters, among their symbolical 

 emblems, represented Salamanders as capable of resisting successfully 

 the most powerful heat. However, naturalists and philosophers have 

 taken the trouble to prove by experiment the absurdity of these 

 tales. 



The skull of the Land or Spotted Salamander {Salamandra 

 maculosa, Fig, 9) is well described by Cuvier as being nearly cylin- 

 drical, wider in front so as to form the semi-circular face, and also 

 behind for the crucial branches, containing the internal ears. The 

 cranium of the aquatic Salamander differs from the terrestrial in 

 having the entire head more oblong. 



In the Land Salamander the body is black and warty, with large 

 irregular yellow spots distributed over the head, back, sides, feet, and 

 tail. They affect retired and moist places, and only issue from their 

 retreat in the night or morning, walking slowly, and dragging them- 

 selves with difficulty along the surface of the ground. They live 

 upon flies, beetles, snails, and earth-worms. They remain in the 

 water to deposit their eggs ; the young are born alive, and furnished 

 with fully-developed gills. Salamanders are gifted with the power of 

 discharging an acrid and milky humour from the surface of its body, 

 with a very strong odour, which serves as a defence against animals 



