NEWT, or Err, Triton, a genus of batrachians of the family salamandridce, more aquatic in their habits than the salamander, to which, in form and characters, they are very similar, having an chingated body and tail. and four small freak limbs. The tail is vertically compressed, and a crest is often developed on time back and tail, but the crest is characteristic of the males in the breeding season, and the tail becomes rounded when the animals leave the water, as they often do, particularly in the latter part of summer, or in autumn; which, along with other variations apparently dependent on circumstances, have caused no little multiplication of specific names. The most abundant British species is the CostssoN NEWT, or SMOOTH NEWT (T. punctatus, Lissetriton punctatus, or Lopleinus punetatus), which is from 3 to 4 in. long, brownish gray above, yellowish beneath, spotted with black, with a soft, smooth skin, and two bands of pores on the head; a well-known inhabitant of stagnant pools and ditches, often found also under stones, and in other damp situations. The WARTY NEWT (T. palustris, or cristatus'), also pretty common, is 5 or 6 in. in length, blackish brown above with round spots of a darker tint, bright orange or orange-yellow with black spots on the under parts, the sides dotted with white, and the tail often exhib:Sing a white baud, the skin rough or warty, and with many pores. The dorsal and caudal crests of the warty newt are separate; those of the common newt are united. Many other species occur in other parts of the world. They
all feed on animal food, of which tadpoles and aquatic insects form the chief portions. They deposit their eggs on the leaves of aquatic plants, each egg separately, twisting or folding the leaf with their feet so as to conceal the egg, which is surrounded by a viscous substance, so that the leaf is retained in this form. The transformation of newts are noticed, and illustrations given, in the article 13/mama. They very frequently change their skin. They possess, in an' extraordinary degree, the power of reproducing lost members—a limb, a tail; even an eye—in every respect perfect. Spallanzani, who made many observations on this subject, found that the same member could be reproduced it ' number of times successively. Newts are also capable of surviving, although long frozen up in ice, and return to activity when a thaw takes place. A strong and almost universal popular prejudice exists against them as most noxious animals, although they arc not in the slightest degree venomous. They have recently, however, begun to be more favor ably regarded in consequence of the frequency of aquaria, of which they are interesting inmates.—It is a curious fact that Linnceus, contrary to his usual discriminating penetra tion, confounded newts with lizards, which they resemble merely in form, differing widely in the most important characters. That they are often confounded by the unscientific is not wonderful.