Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-30
SALAMANDERS,
Curious Lizards to Which an Old-Tfme
Superstition Relates.


Superstition Relates.
Nobody knows how the superstition re-
specting the supposed fire-proof quality of
the salamander had its rise" said Dr. Stej-
meyer. the reptilian expert Of the Smith
sonian Institution. However 1 can give
what think is a pretty shrewd guess at It
To explain. 1 shall have to tell you a story.
''Once upon a time was camping out
with a party. hunting and fishing. We had
lighted a big fire. using for fuel several old
logs. While we were seated around watch
ing the progress Of some cookery in which
we were engaged, a young lady at my side
gave little scream and pointed into the
flames. 1 looked, and there was a 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 IL
was getting uncomfortably hot and crawled
out. Being moist and Shiny, its body was
protected from injury by the fire long
enough to enable II to escape through the
ernbers. But the sight of the animal de-
uberately making its appearance from the
midst Of the fire was certainly very sur
prising. Any ignorant person might easily
nave been led to imagine that the creature
must be fire-proof. 1t seems to me quite
probable that the superstition took its rise
from just such occurrences.
There are many species OF salaman-
ders that a description of them all would
Ill a book. They are to be found all over
the world, except in very cold regions In
popular sense, the name 'salamander' is
applied to all batrachians with tails. That
is rather a loose definition. A tadpole is
a batrachian with a tail. but il is not a
salamander. The great majority of sala-
manders are small. such as the newts found
N springs. The biggest species in this coun-
try is the so-called mud eel,' or siren II
has only two feet just behind the head.
and it has external gills. when fully devel-
oped. which is an exception to the rule
among salamanders.
'Tne biggest salamander in the world Is
| found in Japan. 1t attains a length of two
feet, and is related to the hellbender.' Most
salamanders live on insects. but the very
large kinds eat pretty nearly everything as
a rule. For instance, the japanese species
| is omnivorous. So far as i am aware. none
of the salamanders is considered good "a
eat, by civilized men at all events Two
years ago / obtained a specimen OF the
only known species of blind salamander
1t came from a cave in Missouri A So
called blind salamander exists in certain
caves Of Austria, but II is not a true sala-
mander, though IL would come under the
popular definition. being a batrachian with
| a tail.
zone peculiar thing about salamanders is
that they are not so large when full grown
as when they are partly developed. That
seems a funny paradox, does il not? You
see, salamanders go through a metamor-
phosis during their lifetime, as frogs do
though the change is not so marked. They
have a larval period as the tadpole is the
larva of the frog. On becoming adult
they shrink up considerably. During the
larval period they have gills like a fish,
which usually become rudmentary later on.
An odd exception to this rule is the 'axy-
LOTT of Mexico, which does not undergo any
| such metamorphosis and never becomes
| adult in a scientific sense. In other words
it never reaches what is the final stage
with other salamanders. but always remains
| a larva.
"Axylotls of different species are found in
| various parts OF the United States, but
they do undergo the change and become
| adult However. IL you keep one of them in
water and prevent IL from escaping, ii will
remain a larva always and will undergo no
| metamorphosis. In order to change, IL has
| to get on dry land. Having become a land
| animal its external gills disappear, being
| no longer required for breathing in water.
| The Mexican axylotl never goes on land
| at all events not for a longer time than
| its gills will remain wet
In this bottle is one Of the biggest toads
| in the world I suppose II weighs nearly
| four pounds 1t comes from Arizona ana
| is the only specimen of the species that We
have ever secured Isn't II beauvr