1925] St over: A Synopsis of the Amphibia of California 
83 
A most curious characteristic of the egg mass of this amphibian 
is that the inside of each egg capsule is lined with a coating of small 
rounded green algae, of sufficient density to be seen easily with the 
unaided eye. This green coating was observed in the empty egg cap- 
sules of the 1922 material when they were found in the lake, but no 
particular attention was paid to it at the time, since an easy path of 
entrance was afforded in the openings which the embryos had made at 
emergence. Upon showing the jelly masses to Dr. J. S. Kingsley, he 
informed me that some years ago Dr. Fred D. Lambert of Tufts Col- 
lege had made some studies on the similar algal lining which occurs 
in the egg capsules of a species of Arnby stoma [pnnctatumf] in Massa- 
chusetts and that Lambert had established a new genus for it. Efforts 
to obtain information concerning the alga from Dr. Lambert have been 
unavailing. It was with some interest that the same sort of an algal 
coating was found in the egg masses collected in 1923 and 1924 before 
the larvae had emerged. The algae form a close lining for the entire 
wall of the capsule. Individually they are spherical or nearly so, 
with a clear outer wall, the interior being closely packed with greenish 
; granules. In size they range from .011 to .030 millimeters in 
diameter. 
After the larvae have hatched out, the inner lining of the capsule, 
with its pavement of alga cells, can be removed in one piece, showing 
that the algae are attached to a lining membrane. None of the alga 
cells seems to be free in the egg capsule. Professor N. L. Gardner 
kept some of this material under observation during the summer of 
1923 but was unable to determine its systematic position. 
Two interesting lines of speculation are aroused by the presence 
of this alga in the egg capsules of the salamander: (1) how does the 
alga gain entrance, and (2) what is its function. Appropriate obser- 
vation would probably clear up the first point, though the problem 
would require that an investigator be in the field just prior to the time 
of egg deposition and that an adequate supply of adult animals be 
available for dissection and for observation of the act of spawning. 
Fertilization in salamanders has been found to be internal so far 
as the subject has been investigated. Kingsbury (1895, pp. 261-304) 
has ascertained that in a number of genera of salamanders of eastern 
North America, including Arnby stoma (to which Dicamptodon is 
closely related), there is in the cloaca of the female a receptaculum 
seminis (one or more) in which spermatozoa are stored prior to 
ovulation. With certain forms it is known that the male deposits 
