298 
NEWTS AND SALAMANDERS. 
being thus exactly the oj)posite to that of a frog. They often stand upright in the 
water when coming to the surface to breathe, after which they will sink to the 
bottom with a snake-lilce movement in search of prey. When on land, they seek 
shelter beneath stones and roots, or in holes in the ground, and in such situations 
often undergo their winter sleep, although such as live in deep water pass the cold 
season of the year in a kind of torpor at the bottom. All newts are carnivorous or 
insectivorous, and the crested newt feeds largely on the tadpoles of the common 
frog, while the larger species will prey on the smaller members of their own genus. 
Although there is considerable difference in the spawning-time of the various species, 
the eggs are generally deposited during May or June, the female laying each egg 
singly on the edge of the leaf of some water-plant, which is folded together by her 
hind-feet, and thus held by the viscosity of the egg. In the course of a few days 
after its deposition, the white embryo assumes an elongated form within the egg; 
and soon it is seen to be folded upon itself, with the gills well developed, and in 
advance of them a pair of lobes by which the liberated tadpole affixes itself to 
aquatic plants. When about a quarter of an inch in length, and while the gills are 
still simple, the tadpole bursts its envelope; the front-limbs being represented 
merely by a pair of small knobs behind the gills. When hatched, it swims about 
in an aimless kind of way till it strikes against some object to which it can easily 
attach itself, and after a short time starts on another voyage. Development now 
proceeds apace, and in the course of two or three weeks the tadpole will have 
attained a length of about half an inch, while the gills will have become elegantly 
branched, and the fore-limbs well developed. At this period the eyes assume their 
permanent character, and the mouth has become terminal, while the lobes for 
attachment to plants are well-nigh absorbed. Still later the front feet, which had 
previously been only digitated, acquire four distinct toes, and the hind-limbs make 
their appearance and gradually assume their full proportions; but the gills have 
become still more complex. From this date the latter appendages gradually 
diminish in size, and shrivel, while the lungs are at the same time developed, until 
finally, about the latter part of the autumn, the creature has completed its meta¬ 
morphosis, and passed from the condition of a fish to that of a reptile. Although 
in most cases newts shed their skin piecemeal, in the crested newt it has been 
observed to be cast entire. 
spectacled The presence of only four toes to each foot, and of a bony fronto- 
Saiamander. squamosal arch to the skull, are the most distinctive features of the 
little spectacled salamander (Salamandrina perspicillata) of Italy, the sole repre¬ 
sentative of the genus to which it belongs. It is, however, further distinguished 
by its slender form, and also by its somewhat compressed and rapidly tapering tail, 
furnished both above and below with a longitudinal keel, as well as by the palatine 
teeth being arranged in two parallel series diverging posteriorly. The tongue is 
very similar to that of the genus Chioglossa. Reaching from rather more than 3 
to nearly 4 inches in length, this pretty little salamander has a warty skin, and is 
generally black on the upper-parts, although there is a triangular or chevron¬ 
shaped yellow mark on the top of the head. Beneath, the chin is white, the throat 
black, and the rest of the under-parts white, usually marked with black spots; the 
lower surface of the tail and adjacent part of the body is, however, bright carmine. 
