Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-01-04
ABOUT SALAM.ANDERS.
Origin OF tho Bc.cf That They Arc
G. Home IL Fire.


"N"haf, =. A,., .~:prr-t:.ion
FIR! H. -, >.rr.-,.. ;.r,qro"t quail
i'Y IT - ~.."a.,,ia:,v bad = r.~r''
>a,i l'r. ~'rii"--..r. -" i,i.' ..au ,\p,rt
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Na~A."-..u Is,..t. ~'..r r,,,:...t
.ll"r't,c. ga. r.vr ,>.a. l:'iuii j.
"a l.-'''. --''"d .-u'~- a. =. r" explain,
>aa,! Aa,r - .,.l y"u :, Story.
-''i.,r Up''i. = I'm '.A~ camping
ont ".'5 - party. hunting ani fishing.
W !..d ..-.'rd u h..- IT.. using Tor
fa'-l several "la logs. Whiic W. were
sitting ar'iind watching the progress
= ~.aIi' cookery in which ". wrr,. en-
fas'c'i. 4 ynun.r lady al ny side gave 4
i'tir scream and pointed into the
flames. ! luuiIcd. and there Was Il small
lizard crawling right ont from among
the glowing "!uhcr>. Il walked away
unhurt. apparently. through the gra>s
and made its escape
No" that >:ilamand..r had occupied
h"l" in one Of the logs uN,d for
fuel Several species # its kind live
in old tree trunks. Doubtless this one
found that it was getting uncnlnfprta
bly, hot and crawlcd ont. Being moist
and Shiny. is body wa, protected from
injury by the fire long enough to cna-
bile il t. escape Through the cmbers.
But the sight of the animal dclibcr-
atelr making is appearance from tho
midst OF the hrc. was certainly very sur
prising. Any ignorant person might
easily have been led To- imagine that
h.a
sccina to me quite probable that the
superstition took its rise from just such
occurrences.
There are 81 many species of sala-
mandcrs that a description of them all
would fill book. They are to be
found all over the world. except in very
cold regions. In Il popular sense. the
name 'salamandcr' i applied To all
batrachians with tails. That is rather
loose definition. \ tadpole is q
batrachian with 4 tail, but it is not
salamandcr. The great ma iority 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 salnmandcrs.
The biggest salamander in the world
is found in Japan. 1t attains a length
OF two feet and is related to the hell
bender Most salamandcrs live on in
sects, but the very large kinds eat
pretty nearly everything as a rule.
For instance, the Japanese species is
omnivorous. 80 far as | am aware
none of the salamanders is considered
good to eat, by civilized men. at all
events. Two years ago | obtained q
specimen of the only known species of
blind salamander. 1t came from a cave
in Missouri. A so-callcd blind sala-
mander exists in certain caves of Aus
tria, but it is not a true salamander,
though it would come under the popu-
lar definition, being 4 batrachian with
. tail.
Zone peculiar thing about sala-
manders is that they are not as large
when full grown as when they are
partly developed. That seems funny
paradox, does it not? You see, sala-
manders go through metamorphosis
during their lifetime. as frogs do,
though the change is not so marked.
They have a larval period, as the tad
pole is the larvD of the frog. On be-
coming adult they shrink up consid-
erably. During the larval period they
have gills like fish, which usually be-
come rudimentary. An odd exception
to this rule is the 'axolotl' of Mexico,
which does not undergo any such
metamorphosis and never becomes
adult in scientific sense. In other
words, it never reaches what is the
final stage with other salamanders, but
always 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 a larva
always and will undergo no meta
morphosis. In order to change it has
to get on dry land. Having become a
land animal, its external gills disap-
pear, being no longer required for
breathing in water. The Mexican ak
olotl never goes on land-at any rate,
not for longer time than its gills will
remain wet"