1925] Storer: A Synopsis of the Amphibia of California 55 
cavity with a single layer of gelatinous: material outside (text fig. T). 
The dimensions of the several parts, in millimeters, are as follows : 
Egg 
diameter 
Inside of capsule 
Thickness of 
jelly wall 
Minimum..... 
1.88 
4.42 X 5.18 
0.41 
Maximum 
2.24 
5.12 x 5.58 
1.18 
Average of 10 
2.06 
About 4.58 x 5 .35 
0.63 
There is much variation in the color of recently laid eggs. Some 
are very dark brown on the animal hemisphere (with a light 'polar’ 
spot) ; others, probably the majority, are light brown above. The 
lower hemisphere is yellow, sometimes with a greenish cast. 
In the vicinity of Corvallis, Oregon, it is reported that the newts 
deposit their eggs singly (Chandler, loc. cit.) as is the habit of Triturns 
viridescens in the eastern states. 
Whatever may be the immediate factor which controls the instinc- 
tive performance of the reproductive function in this species, its blind 
operation, in the presence of adverse environmental conditions, often 
results in a great loss of eggs. At the Thornhill Pond laying may 
begin just after the first heavy rains in December or early January, 
the eggs being deposited in the shallow water at the margins. Subse- 
quent rains often fill the pond so that these first eggs are covered to a 
depth of 300 millimeters (12 inches) or more. This deeper stratum 
of water often holds much suspended matter, the presence of which 
decreases the quantity of heat reaching the eggs. Development of the 
eggs being thus delayed, fungi ( Sporotricliiumf ) penetrate the jelly 
coat, attack, and kill the eggs. On the other hand, eggs deposited later 
in the season, in shallow water at the pond margin, while receiving 
a greater quantity of heat, may, by the lowering of the water, be left 
high and dry and the embryos perish by desiccation (pi. 6, fig. 13). 
The eggs of Triturus torosus develop much more slowly than the 
eggs of the Salientia spawned in the same surroundings. In a portion 
of Thornhill Pond where freshly laid eggs were seen on February 21, 
1922, young larvae, just hatched, were found on April 14 ; thus about 
52 days were required for embryonic development. Eggs collected in 
the field on February 21, 1922, when in the 1-, 2-, and 4-cell stages 
and kept in the laboratory at an average temperature of 57° F. hatched 
March 22 to 25, twenty-nine to thirty-two days after laying. Another 
lot collected on January 5, 1921, was kept in a room where the tern- 
