The Smooth Newt. REPTILES. The Glutinous Salabiandee. 
newt, which he says he has seen swallowed by these 
animals, when so large as to occasion great difficulty 
and delay in the act of deglutition. They are seldom 
found out of the water, and in winter they commonly 
remain torpid at the bottom of ponds and ditches until 
the warmth of spring recalls them into activity. During 
this period of retirement the male loses his dorsal crest. 
It does not fall off, however, but is gradually absorbed. 
They shed their skin at particular seasons. It comes 
off in shreds, and is washed away as it becomes loose. 
The principal organ of progression in the water is the 
tail ; and during the act of swimming the legs are 
turned backward, so as to admit of the smallest degree 
of resistance. Impregnation is effected in the water, 
according to the observations of Professor Bell, by 
simple contact, and the manner in which the female 
deposits her eggs is very interesting and curious. 
Selecting some leaf of an aquatic plant, especially the 
common Spotted Persicaria {Polygonum Persicaria), 
she seats herself as it were upon its edge, and folding 
it up by means of her hind feet, deposits a single egg 
in the duplicature of the folded part of the leaf. The 
two sides are thus glued firmly together, and the egg 
effectually protected from injury. As soon as this one 
egg is deposited, the creature leaves the leaf, and soon 
afterwards seeks another to place upon it another egg. 
The period of time during which the female is thus 
engaged, is much longer than is the case in the tailless 
Batraehians, extending over some months, or from the 
middle of April to the middle of July. Rusconi, an 
Italian naturalist, has W'atched this process with great 
care, and has followed up the development of the young 
animal to its full growth. The metamorphoses they 
undergo resemble very much those of the frog, and 
the time occupied varies according to the temperature 
of the season. An egg deposited on the 23rd of April 
was sufficiently advanced by the 6 th of May to produce 
a tadpole, and allow it to escape from its envelope ; 
but it did not reach the full maturity of that state till 
the 18th of July. On the 27th of the same month the 
gills had disappeared, the animal respired atmospheric 
air, and had arrived at its perfect state. 
THE SMOOTH NEWT, Small Newt or Eft, Ask 
in Scotland {LopMnus or Lissotriton punctatus), is 
another species which inhabits this country. It is con- 
siderably smaller than the preceding, being less than 
four indies in length, and has the skin quite smooth, 
like that of the common frog. The colours vary very 
much at different periods of the year and in the two 
sexes. The male is usually of a brownish-gray above, 
passing into yellow beneath, which in spring becomes 
a rich, bright orange, and is everywhere marked with 
round dark spots of unequal size. The crest in 
spring is often tipped with bright red or violet. The 
female is commonly of a light yellowish-brown, or even 
buff, with scattered brown dots. The flat, compressed 
tail terminates in a sharp point, and the crest of the 
back and tail are continuous. This species is very 
abundant, being found in almost every ditch and pond 
throughout the country. It affords food to several 
kinds of fish, as well as to the Great newt just described, 
and feeds itself upon small aquatic insects, worms, and 
molluscs. The Smooth newt is not so strictly aquatic 
VoL. IL 69 
in its habits as the Warty newt, as in June many of 
the young which have recently arrived at the perfect 
state are to be found on land, creeping about amongst 
the herbage in the neighbourhood of water, or in damp 
places, frequently concealing themselves amongst the 
roots of shrubs and plants, and sometimes venturing 
even into damp cellars. The reproduction and meta- 
morphosis of these animals resemble almost entirely 
those of the preceding species ; but the growth of the 
young during the summer and autumn is very rapid, 
as they reach their full adult size the first year. It 
was on this species that the Abhd Spallanzani tried his 
well-known experiments on the reproduction of por- 
tions of the legs and tail. This little reptile, accord- 
ing to Mrs. Lee (late Bowdich), occurs in Ireland, and 
she says a curious superstition is current among the 
peasantry about it. It has, according to them, a pro- 
pensity to jump down their throats, making a lodging 
in their stomachs, and to multiply there in the most 
frightful manner. The only cure is to find a stream 
running directly south, and to lean over it with the 
mouth open, when the efts will come out, one by one, 
and plunge into the water.” 
Family IL— THE MOLGES {Molgidce). 
In this family the teeth of the palate are disposed 
in two converging series, each line being in the outer 
hinder edge of the vomerine bones. The head is de- 
pressed, and there is no bony orbit above the eyes. 
The tongue is large and adherent, and the ribs are 
either rudimentary or altogether wanting. 
There are only two species described, both natives of 
Japan, the habits of which are very little known. 
Family III.— THE PLETHODONS 
{Plethodontidce). 
In this famil}'’ the palatine teeth form a short, inter- 
rupted, cross series in front of the palate, between the 
internal nostrils, each series running across the hinder 
end of the vomerine bones. In most of the species 
the head is large, and the tongue broad and more or 
less adherent. The skin is generally smooth, rarely 
granular, and without pores. Thirty- four species are 
described in the Museum Catalogue of Amphibia, and 
the number known to exist may be about forty. 
The genus Plethodon contains two species, both 
of which are natives of North America. In these the 
head is broad and depressed, and the tongue is large, 
broad, expanded, and attached nearly the whole of its 
length by a linear central band, the sides and hinder 
end being free. 
THE GLUTINOUS SALAMANDER {Plethodon gluti- 
nosum) is about seven inches in length, and is of a 
beautiful bluish-black colour on the upper surface. 
The back and tail are dotted with small white spots, 
and the sides are marked with larger spots of the same 
colour, often confluent. The head is of a semi-oval 
form, and the muzzle is rather pointed. The mouth 
is rather large, and the nostrils lateral and near the 
snout. The eyes are large and prominent, and the 
pupil is black. The body of this amphibian is elon- 
