THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
i55 
least popular being its power to withstand heat and pass harmless through the 
hottest fire. But as nearly all the superstitions have some small base of truth 
to stand upon, so has that which represents the salamander as proof against 
fire. When the creature is thrown into the fire, as has been done by many 
persons out of curiosity to test what truth there is in so surprising an asser¬ 
tion, it ejects a copious flow of viscous fluid, which no doubt for the moment 
prevents the serious burning of the animal, and enables it to scramble from the 
fire little the worse for the harsh experiment. This result, however, can happen 
only under the most favorable circumstances. Pliny subjected a salamander to 
the ordeal and reports that it burned quickly into a powder, as it must invaria¬ 
bly do unless a chance is offered for its immediate escape from the embers. 
The Fiery or Dotted Salamander ( Salamandra maculata ) is the most con¬ 
spicuous European species, to whose unhappy lot has fallen the fiery experiences 
above described, from whence the name is derived. In France it is regarded as 
a most venomous reptile, the very breath of which is supposed to be as fatal 
as that of the basilisk of ancient legend. Old naturalists, who invariably had 
special regard for the 
wonderful and sup¬ 
posititious, upon the 
theory that it pleased 
men to learn of the 
marvellous dangers 
by which all man¬ 
kind are perpetually 
surrounded, spread 
such alarm of this 
unfortunate creature 
as has not yet sub¬ 
sided in certain districts. They even represented that should a person set 
the heel of his shoe upon the head of a salamander all the hair would at once 
fall from his face and cranium. The mere crawling of a salamander on the 
branches of an apple tree would blast all the fruit in an orchard. 
All this calumny is due to the slimy and repulsive appearance of the animal, 
its resemblance to the water-dog being striking. Its color is black, splotched 
with pale yellow, with tubercles like warts along its sides. This species is ter¬ 
restrial, but deposits its young in the water, where they remain only a few 
days before entering upon an independent existence upon shore. The creature 
affects the darkest places, usually making its abode in deep crevices about damp 
spots, from whence it rarely ventures except on very dark, rainy days, and after 
nightfall, when it goes in search of slugs and other insects, which are its com¬ 
mon food. As previously stated in the general observations concerning sala¬ 
manders, this species whenever excited emits a viscous fluid, so copious as to 
possibly afford protection against the touch of fire, but it serves the crea¬ 
ture better by protecting it against enemies, in which respect it is armed like the 
common toad whose secretion is so acrid as to cause a dog that has attacked it 
to drop the quarry promptly. 
The salamander hibernates, spending the severe months of winter within the 
hollow of trees, or under stones where frost is least likely to reach him, nor 
appearing again until spring is considerably advanced. 
FIERY OR DOTTED SALAMANDER. 
