SALAMANDER 
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 
Lacerta Salam-andra. L. cauda tereti brevi, corpore poroso, 
flavo nigroque vario. Linn. Syst. 
Nat. Gmel. 1. p. 1066. 
Tail short and round ; body porous, 
without scales, and variegated with 
black and yellow. 
Lacerta cauda tereti brevi, pedibus 
inermibus, palmis tetradactylis, plan- 
tis pentadactylis. Amoen. Acad. 1. 
p. 131. 
Salamandra terrestris. Raj. Quadr. 
273. 
Salamander. . . . Sela Mus. 2. pi. 15. f. 5. Shaw Gen. 
Zool. 3. p. 29I. pi. 82. 
The many ridiculous stories which have originated 
respecting this innocent lizard are totally void of 
foundation, and scarcely deserve our notice. Far 
from remaining uninjured by fire, the salamander, 
when devoted to that element, will be as certainly 
destroyed as any other animal ; but from its cold- 
ness, and a sort of milky fluid, which, when touch- 
ed, it always secretes over the surface of its body, 
the activity of the fire is for a moment checked, 
