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Show 86 REPTILIA. The terrestrial species of France hav~ a gland analogous to T d on each side of the occiput. r .. that of the oa ' L L 11 pl xxx. Lacert. salamandra, Salam. maculosa, aur.; ac. '. · ' • an es of tuber- L Black with large spots of a bright yellow' r ~ cle· s on th' e sides, from wlu. c h ' wh en agitated b. y .ea. r, oozes a 'lk b'tter h.q U.i d t h at h as as trong odour and IS poisonous to IDI y, 1 • ' I . erhaps this circumstance which very weak ammals. t IS, p ' . . . f 1 S 1 has gi. ven ri. se to the f a bl e 0 f the incombustibihty o t 1e a a- • 1 ~ d mander It li. ves . t 1 ces and hides itself m ho es, 1ee s 111 we P a .. 1 b. . . 'nsects and earth, brings forth its young hvmg, on urn rici, J b h' d and depos.i ts t h em m. Po ols'· at first they have ranc Ire, an their tail is vertically compressed.( 1) . A Salamander resembling the common one, but entirely black an d 1. mmacu1 a te , t's found in the Alps, it is the Sal. atra, Laurent. pl. 1, f. 2• h ~ bl k o l . ·zz ta Savi Only four toes to all t e leet; ac oa . persp1.c~ a ' · 11 l' above; ye 11 ow, spo t t e d with black beneath: a. ye ow me across the eyes. A small species from the Apennmes.(2) Nort h A mert. ca, wht'ch produces many more Salama.n ders thafni Europe, has several that are terrestrial, with a round tail, but de . cient in the glands on the occiput.(3) TRITON, Laur. A uatic Salamanders always retain the vertically compress~d tail, d ~ass nearly the whole of their existence in the water. 1 he.exa~ riments of Spallanzani on their astonishing power of reproductlo?, ~ave rendered them celebrated. If a limb be amputated, another IS reproduced in its stead with all its bones: muscles, vessels, &c. a~d this takes place several times in successiOn. Another not less sm· gular faculty, discovered by Dufay, is the power they pos~es~ of remaining enclosed in ice for a considerable time without pen~hmg. Their eggs are fecundated by the seminal fluid diffused. m the water, which enter the oviduct together; they are .expelled m long (1) See, Ad. Fred. Funck., de Salam. terrest. vita, evolutione, farmatione, Berlin, fol. 1827. 1 36 · rely (2) We have ascertained that the Sal. d trois doigts, Lacep. 11, p · , 1s me . a dried and somewhat mutilated specimen of the Sal. perspicillata;-Add, S. Sarn, Gosse. . Sal (3) Sal. venenosa, Daud., orsubviolacea, narton;-Sal. fWJr:wta, Green;- Ill. tigrina, Id.;-Sal. erythronota, Id. ;-Sal. bilineata, Id. ;-Sal. rubra, Daud. V ' pl. 91, f. 2;-S. variolata, Gilliam. Sc. Nat. Phil., I, pl. xviii, f. 1, and seve~l ~e~ species. The Sal. japonica, Houtuin, Bechst. trans. of Lacep., II, pl. 18, · ' 1 closely allied to the erythronota. BATRACHIA. 87 ehaplets; the young are not hatched until the fifteenth day, and retain their branchire for a longer or shorter time according to the species. Modern observers have recognized several of them in France, but as the colour of these animals changes according to the age, sex and· season of the year, and as the crests and other ornaments of the males are only well developed in the spring, the species· have not been determined with certainty. When winter surprises them with their branchire, they retain them till the following year, always increasing in size.( 1) 8. marmorata, Latr.; Triton Gesneri, Laur. Skin, granulated; pale green above, with large irregular brown spots; brown, dotted with white beneath; a red line along the back, which, iu the male, is slightly crested and marked with black spots. But slightly aquatic. 8. alpestris; Salam. a jlancs tachetes, Bechst. tr. Lac. pl. xx. Skin granulated~ slate coloured and brown above; orange or red belly; a band of numerous stnall black spots on each flank. 8. cristata, Latr. Skin, granulated; brown above, with round blackish spots; orange beneath, similarly spotted; sides dotted with white; crest of the male elevated, acutely denticulate, and in the nuptial season edged with violet. 8. punctata, Latr. Skin, smooth; a light brown above; pale . or red beneath; round black spots every where; black streaks on the head; crest of the male festooned; the toes somewhat widened, but not palmate. S. palmata, Latr. Back brown; top of the head vermiculated with brown atid blackish; paler on the flanks, with round blackish spots; belly immaculate. The male has three small dorsal crests; toes dilated and united by membranes, and the tail terminated by a small filament.(2) Several aquatic Salamanders are also found in North America.(3) Skeletons of a Salamander three feet in length have been discovered among the schist of CEningen. One of them is the pretended Fo88il Man of Scheucher. : I. (1) It was from an individual which had thus retained its branchia: that Laurenti made his Proteus tritoniua. (2) The characters of the European species appear to me to be such as are most conf1hnable to nature; to add the synonymes of authors would be a difficult task, so litUe do their figures and descriptions agree with the animals before me. (3) Sal. symmetrica, Harl. which appears to me previously represented in Bec~stein's Lacep. II, pl. xviii, f. 2, under the name of Sal. punctata; and several species whose descriptions I could not recognize, and which richly merit a mono-graph, accompanied by good figures. . 1 \ |