208 
ANIMAL CURIOSITIES 
The temperature of its surroundings appears 
largely to govern the habits of the creatures in 
this respect, those that dwell in comparatively 
warm waters being viviparous, and those that 
live in colder situations oviparous. 
Although the proteus thrives fairly well in 
captivity, it is of a very sluggish disposition and 
invariably hides itself in the darkest part of its 
aquarium. The creatures have been bred in 
captivity, the first time on record being in the 
year 1888, when a female produced seventy-six 
eggs which hatched out after a period of three 
months. The young, apart from their inferior 
size, differ little in outward appearance from 
the adults, except that their rudimentary eyes 
are somewhat larger and more sensitive to 
light, and the hind legs little more than 
excrescences. 
The proteus has lately received a considerable 
degree of notoriety in the daily press owing to 
the experiments carried out by Professor J. S. 
Huxley, Fellow of New College, Oxford, in 
conjunction with Professor Kendall, of America, 
who utilized the thyroid gland of the creature 
for administering to mentally defective children 
with a view to effecting a cure. 
Why the animal should have been named 
46 proteus ” is difficult to account for, the 
Proteus of Greek mythology being a sea-god 
