disprove this theory, countless salamanders have been flung to the flames, 
whence of course they never emerged. The chief victim of this practice of 
superstitious man was the spotted yellow-on-black European fire salaman¬ 
der, which in fact owes its common name to human credulity. In older 
times when wood was gathered from the forest and brought indoors to dry 
by the heat of the hearth, fire salamanders would emerge from the bark 
and crawl about the house. The inhabitants always thought they had 
emerged from the fire, however. Hence their name and the superstition sur¬ 
rounding them. 
Salamanders and newts are frequently confused with lizards because 
of their similar appearance. They are, however, immediately distinguished 
from those reptilians by the complete absence of scales. Newts, generally 
considered, are the smaller members of the salamander family. 
None of the salamanders can be considered dangerously venomous, 
but the skin of some species secretes fluids which are toxic to some degree. 
The fire or spotted salamander, for example, can, if sufficiently provoked, 
spray its milky-white poison to a distance of one foot by violent contrac¬ 
tions of the skin. This venom produces only smarting in humans, but it is 
fatal to small creatures such as frogs, which sometimes attempt to dine 
on live fire salamanders. 
GIANT SALAMANDERS 
Every family of animals has its giant; the salamanders have one which, 
when compared to the average size of the group, is gargantuan indeed. 
The giant salamander is not only the largest member of its immediate fam¬ 
ily, but also the largest of amphibians. A five-foot specimen from Japan 
lived in captivity in England for fifty-two years, and some are believed 
to live for more than a century. Giant salamanders inhabit the rushing 
mountain streams of Japan, China and Tibet, but usually seek out quiet 
shallow pools at the stream’s edge, where they reconnoiter sluggishly or 
lie completely motionless. They make their home beneath the rocks at the 
bottom of the stream and always keep the entrance to this abode scrupu¬ 
lously clear of debris. The giants search for their food at night. 
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