REPTILES A.\n .\}rpnnu.\NS 47 



Tlic ^iiint salamander or lu'IllxMulcr hcst known in the streams of wcstrrn 



PcunsyK iiuia luis its breeding season in antunui. [Tlic 

 Giant Sala- * , , , , ... i ^i • i 



^ scene snows blue asters and ripenniij: <n'ai)es al()n«; the nxcr. 



mander Group , in- . , 



Note tliat the hellhenders are wholly a([uatic, no one of them 



l)ein<:: shown even jxirtially out of water. The ri\'er is rei)resented as 

 flowing directly toward the observer to expose the nests and eggs which are 

 under tlie rocks on the down stream side out of the current. At each nest a 

 sahunander (the male) is on guard over the eggs, and there are young sala- 

 manders one year old and two years old. Also various habits of the sala- 

 manders are shown, for instance, one is molting its skin, and others are 

 eating crayfish caught from the rocks, or small fish. The animals of the giant 

 salamander group are cast from the salamanders themselves, soft, jellj^-like 

 animals when taken out of water and which therefore had to be posed under 

 oil so that their natural form would be kept while the plaster molds w^re 

 being made. 



The scene is a typical lily pond and this giant of North American amphi- 

 bians is shown living both under the water and above on the 

 land. The group illustrates the changes from the tadpole to 

 the adult frog and show^s rniany of the activities of the frog — 

 its molting, swimming, breathing under water and in air, croaking and 

 " lying low " before an enemy ; also food habits in relation to small mammals, 

 to birds, snakes, insects, small fish and turtles. The plant life of the group 

 affords study of ecological arrangement from the delicate under-w^ater forms, 

 through the floating duckweed and near-shore w^ater lilies and pickerel 

 weeds to \vater-loving shrubs such as willow, swamp alder and white azalea. 

 The group has a transparent background, the lights in front balanced by 

 other lights behind the painted canvas. 



The lizard group pictures a Lower California island. The brilliant hot 

 sunshine, the sand, cacti and volcanic rock with the various 



,. , ^ kinds of lizards fitted to endure desert life make a striking 



Lizard Group .... . 



contrast with adjoining groups. The larger specimens of the 



group, the iguanas and chuckwallas as w^ell as the horned toads are mounted 

 skins. The smaller specimens, such as the zebra-tails (at the center of the 

 group) and collared lizards (running at rear left), are wax casts. The group 

 had an interesting method of construction. All the ground work, the rocky 

 slopes enclosing sandy guUeys leading down to the sea, was modeled life 

 size in clay and then cast as a whole in plaster, so that the completion of the 

 group meant merely the addition of plants and animals as planned and the 

 final perfecting of all with color, papier-mache and wax. 



The toad group might well be given some more descriptive name. It 

 presents a New England scene in early IVIay and seems the personification 

 ^ of spring, filled with the exuberance of new life and suggest- 



ing everyw^here motion and sound. Birds are just at the 



