t 



COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 4*7 



the female leaves the water. We have several spe- 

 cimens otthis toad preserved in spirits of wine. 



The first genus of the second family is that of 

 the salamander. This animal, when in its per- 

 fect state, has a cylindric tail ; when young, the 

 branchiae are loosely floating on the neck, and 

 the fore feet are formed before there is any 

 trace of the hind ones. The land salamander is 

 viviparous; it lives in holes, and deposits its young 

 in some neighbouring pond. The salamander is 

 furnished with pores and small foraminae through 

 which exudes a foetid liquor, considered as ve- 

 nomous. It has long been believed that it could 

 resist the action of fire ; but it is now ascer- 

 tained, that it can be consumed in the flames as 

 well as any other animal. 



The tritons belong to the second genus ; their 

 tail is compressed, and they inhabit the water. 

 If a limb, or the portion of a limb, is severed 

 from a triton, it is replaced by a new one. There 

 is in the collection a specimen, which lived four 

 months after its head had been cut off: it was kept 

 in a bottle filled with water, which was renewed 

 every day, and the wound was completely healed. 

 When a triton happens to be enclosed in the ice, 

 it remains in it as long as the winter lasts, and 

 swims off the instant the ice is melted. There 

 are more than twelve species of this genus in the 



