180 
ZOOLOGY. 
and fisli-like, the tail sometimes with a caudal fin as in the 
newts, but usually rounded, while the four legs are always 
present. One or two of the salamanders living away from 
water bring forth their young alive; but as a rule salaman- 
ders lay their eggs in the water. The eggs of the newt 
(Triton) are laid singly on submerged leaves; those of the 
spotted newt are also laid singly on the leaves of floating 
plants. Those of Desmognatlms are laid connected by a 
tough thread on land. The common red-backed salaman- 
der, or Plethodon erytlironotum, lays its eggs in summer in 
packets under damp stones, leaves, etc. ; the young are born 
with gills, as is the case with the viviparous Salamandra 
atra of the Alps. This species is said by John Burroughs * 
to make a fine plaintive piping noise, heard from May till 
November through all our woods, sometimes on trees, but 
usually on or near the ground." 
The lowest form of this order is the aquatic Congo- 
snake {Amphiuma means), in which the body is large, 
very long, round and slender, with small rudimentary 
two-toed limbs; there are no gills, though spiracles or gill- 
openings survive. It lives in swamps and sluggish streams 
of the Southern States. 
A step higher is the Menopoma, which is still aquatic, 
but without gills^ while the body and feet are as in the 
true salamanders. The Menopoma Alleghaniense (Fig. 227), 
called the hellbender or big water lizard, is about half a 
metre (l|-2 feet) in length, and inhabits the Mississippi 
Valley. Allied to the Amphiuma is the gigantic Japanese 
salamander, Cryptobranclnis Japonims, which is a metre 
in length. 
We now come to the true salamanders, whose body is still 
tailed, with larger eyes; there are no spiracles; they breathe 
exclusively by their lungs, except what respiration is car- 
ried on by the skin. 
The genus AmUy stoma comprises our largest salamanders; 
* "Pepacton." Boston, 1881, p. 133. 
