414 THE AMEBIC AX NATURALIST [Vol. XLV 



it can be found under nearly every rock and log on the neighbor- 

 ing foothills. No one has, so far as I am aware, discovered and 

 described its egg-laying habits. The author obtained some of the 

 eggs of this salamander and the following brief note is published 

 with the hope that it may attract the attention of some student to 

 this problem. 



The first eggs obtained were discovered by T. Kimura during 

 January, 1906. They were found partly buried in depressions 

 under rocks on a moist hill side. On January 5, 1907, the author 

 found some eggs under a log in a moist ravine well up in the 

 hills. The eggs were deposited in small pockets in the ground; 

 21 were in one group and 10 in another group about 2 feet dis- 

 tant, while 4 were scattered between, suggesting that all were 

 deposited by a single female. These eggs were round or slightly 

 oval and about 6 mm. in diameter. Development was well ad- 

 vanced. The first individual to issue from the egg appeared on 

 January 28, and was 17 mm. in length and of a dull black color. 

 By May 22 it had doubled in length and was 35 mm. long. The 

 majority of the eggs, when found, were covered with a fungus 

 and failed to develop. This suggests that they may have been 

 under abnormal conditions. It seems very likely that the major- 

 ity of the eggs of this species are deposited just beneath the sur- 

 face of the ground, as is the case with earthworm eggs and so 

 escape detection. Diligent search at the proper season should 

 settle this question. 



Batrachosr ps attnniatus disappears from this region with the 

 approach of the dry season and appears suddenly in the fall after 

 the first heavy rains. I have been informed that it can be 

 obtained at any season in the moist coast region near Pacific 

 Grove. It seems probable that in the dry regions this salamander 

 burrows into the ground as the earthworm does to escape the 

 drought. This theory is supported by the shape of the body, 

 which is elongate, slender and roundish, suggesting that of the 

 earthworm. It appears that we have here a parallel development 

 of form and habit between B. attenuates and the earthworm due 

 to a struggle against the same physical environment. 



C. V. Burke. 



