84 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 27 
clumps of sperm in spermatophores on the bottom of the spawning 
pool, which are subsequently taken up into the cloaca of the female. 
This condition is inferred in other forms. So far as known to the 
writer, no case of internal fertilization through direct transference 
of sperm has been discovered among the Caudata, nor is there any 
instance of external fertilization such as obtains among the Salientia. 
The exact method of fertilization in Dicamptodon ensatus is unknown. 
Should it prove to be as outlined above for numerous eastern species 
and as definitely observed in the case of A. punctatum in Michigan 
(B. G. Smith, 1907, pp. 381-384), namely, by spermatophores subse- 
quently taken up by the female, an avenue of entrance for the spores 
of the alga would be in association with the spermatophores when 
taken into the receptaculum semims. Subsequently the spores would 
have to travel or be carried up the oviduct anterior to the area where 
the jelly coat of the egg is secreted in order to be included within the 
capsule in which the egg lies. It seems improbable that the alga would 
make its way into the jelly mass after the latter had been extruded, 
particularly as the alga cells when found in the jelly mass are of a 
non-motile type. In egg masses of some species of amphibians, how- 
ever, certain fungi are known to penetrate the jelly and attack dead 
eggs or larvae while the latter are still in the capsules. 
The second question, as to why the algal coating is found in the 
egg capsule, cannot be answered definitely. The egg masses are de- 
posited in pools of clear water, such as are inhabited by trout, and 
therefore must contain a fair amount of oxygen. Because of the cold- 
ness of the water, development is probably somewhat prolonged. The 
alga may possibly be of service in oxidizing katabolic products which 
otherwise might accumulate within the capsule in harmful concentra- 
tion. In the few egg mases of this species of salamander which have 
come to my attention there have been practically no eggs which failed 
to develop. The percentage which develop to the hatching stage seems 
to be higher than, for example, in the eggs of Triturus torosus, where 
it is known that a considerable number fail to develop far enough to 
leave the jelly mass. 
The embryos prior to hatching attain a length such that they 
become curled up within the capsules. At hatching they are 15 to 17 
millimeters in total length. Unlike the larvae of the Salientia, these 
young salamanders are active almost at once, and they dart about an 
aquarium at a relatively high rate of speed. Cope (1889, p. 114) 
states that he observed larvae in some tributaries of the McCloud 
