The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-29
THE TRUTH ABOUT sALAMAN-
DERS.
As to the Origin of the Belief That
They Are at Home in Fire.
From the Washington 50


Nobody knows how the superstition
regarding the supposed ireproof quality
of the salamander had its rise" said DR..
Stejneger, the reptilian expert of the
Smithsonian Institute to a reporter.
However can give what l think is
pretty good guess at it. To explain,
shall have to tell you story.
"Once upon time | was camping out
with a party, hunting and fishing We
had lighted a fire, using for fuel several
old lors. While we were sitting around
watching the progress of some cookery in
which we were engaged, a young lady at
my side gave little scream and pointed
into the flames Of looked, and there was
small lizard crawling right out from
among the glowing embers. 1t walked
away, unhurt apparently, through the
grass and made its escape.
Now, that salamander had occupied a
hole in one of the logs used for fuel. Sew
eral species Of its kind live in old tree
trunks. Doubtless this one found that it
was getting uncomfortably hot and
crawled out. Being moist and Shiny, its
body was protected from injury by the
fire long enough to enable it to escape
through the embers. But the sightof the
animal deliberately making its appear
ance from the midst of the ire was GER
tainly very surprising Any ignorant per
son might easily have been led TO imagine
that the creature must be tireproof, 1t
seems to me quite probable that the SUI
perstition took its rise from just such oc-
currences.
There ara so many species of salaman-
ders that a description of them all would
fill a book They are to be found all over
the world, except in very cold regions. In
a popular sense, the name 'salamander'
is applied to all batrachians with tails.
That is rather a loose definition. tad
pole is a batrachian with a tail, but it is
not salamander. The great majority of
salamanders are small such as the nevis,
found in springs. The biggest species in
this country is the sO-called mud eel, or
siren. 1t has only two feet, just behind
the head, and it has external gills when
fully developed, which is an exception to
the rule among salamanders.
"The biggest salamander in the world
is found in Japan. 1t attains length of
two feet, and is related to the 'hellbender'
Most salamanders live on insects, but the
very large kinds eat pretty nearly every
thing as a rule. For instance, the Japan
csc species is omniverous. So far as am
aware, none of the salamanders are con-
sdered good to eat, by civilized men at
I all events Two years ago l obtained q
specimen of the only known species of
blind salamander. 1t came from cave in
missouri. A SO-CdlleO DIlnU Sdldulduu0T
exists in certain caves of Austria, but it
is not a true salamander, though 1t would
come under the popular definition, being
a batrachian with tail.
Zone peculiar thing about salamanders
is that they are not as large when full
grown as when they are PARTLY developed.
That seems funny paradox, does II nots
You see, salamanders go through meta
morphosis during their lifetime, as frogs
do, though the change is not so marked.
They have larval period, as the tadpOle
is the larva of the frog. On becoming
adult they shrink up considerably Dur
ing the larval period they have gills like
fish, which usually become rudimentary.
An odd exception to this rule is the aXol-
otl, of Mexico, which does not undergo
any such metamorphosis, and never be-
comes adult in q scientific sense. In other
words, it never reaches what is the final
stage with other salamanders, but al
ways remains larva.
"Axolotls of different species are found
in various parts of the United States, but
they do undergo the change and become
adult However, If you keep one of them in
water, and prevent it from escaping, it will
remain larva always and will undergo
no metamorphoSis. In order to change it
it has to get on dry land, Having become
a land animal, its external gills disappear,
being no longer required for breath
ing in water The Mexican axolotl
never goes on land-at any rate, not for
longer time than its gills will remain
wet"