No. 470] 



HABITS OF NECTURUS 



131 



Cliarles (). Wliitman some eighteen years ago discovered the 

 nests and obtained a complete series of developmental .stages. 



Those who sought the embryological material wvrv Umvi\ to 

 enter an nnexj)lored field. No one felt certain thai lie had e\<Mi 

 found the adult animal, since the error of Mitchell, that the adult 

 measured two feet, had been and is yet, copied by the leading 

 systematists. Moreover, Barton ((xray, '57, p. ()1) held that the 

 animal was the larval form of Cryptobraru^hus. (\)pe ('(;()) ex- 

 pressed the opinion that it was a larval S|)crlcr])es and cliauged 

 in the same manner as the Siivdon to an Ainl)lv.>t()nia. Haird 

 ('50) suggested that it might be the uiimetaniorphoscd tnnii of 

 some great salamander as yet unknown. It the abo\e were u-\w 

 it then remained to be determined whether ihe animal bred ni 

 the larval or the adult condition, or in both. All these possibil- 

 ities demanded careful consideration. 



Again it was not known whether they were ]>urely afjuatic or 

 whether they came frequently on land, as described by Smith 

 ('32), DeKay ('42), and others. When this rpiestion was an- 

 swered others aro.se, and foremost among these was the time of 

 breeding. Concerning this ])eriod there were nnnieron-. con- 

 jectures. Kneeland ('57) states that thr animal-, wrn- taken m 

 abundance near the shore during the winter nionih>. "Ihe 

 reason why they approach the shore at tl\i> >ea>on uu\\ l)e on 

 account of this change in skin, and possibly for breeding j)urpo>e.>. 

 About once a week they pass from the ann> a gelatm(>n> nia>>, 

 al)out the size of a pea, of a whitish color, I thouglit this might 

 be possibly an egg, but the envelope .soon becomes soft in water, 

 and its contents are lengthened out into a .somewhat convoluted 

 form." 



Ilolbrook ('42) observe, that th<w are ">eld..ni taken <-\cept 



Their eggs arc ai)()nt the sizi' of peas and a> nian\ a> one liinidred 

 and fifty have been counted in a sin-l(> tVinal.>." 



Milncr ('74) states that a "full series wa- t'li- -ea-.n .7;i) col- 

 lected from the Detroit River, from tlu^ length .>t on.' and one 

 fourth inches to thirteen inches. Lat(M-, about ti;e nnddle of the 

 month of July, Mr. George Clark collected a .,uantity of their 

 eggs, proving this month to be the spa 



aM>u of tlu 



