It is ditribnted over the whole of Europe, and is found in western and northern Asia.
Habits.—The ponds and ditches of this country abound with this the largest British Newt, and a most voracious animal it is. Aquatic was so large as to occasion great difficulty and delay in the act of deglutition. In swimming, the legs are turned backwards to lessen resistance, and the animal is propelled principally by the tail. Every one has observed the Newts, or Efts, as they are called in many places, floating motionless at the surface of the water, with their limbs extended at right angles with the body, and their toes spread out. Their progression at the bottom of the water, and on land, is per formed creepingly with their small and weak feet.
Generation.—For our knowledge of this subject we are chiefly indebted to the observations of Rusconi. Mr. Bell, in his work on 'British Reptiles,' has confirmed most of Rusconi's observations, and also added some of his own.
Rnsconi enters into minute details of the actions of the male from the time of its first pursuit of the female to the period of fecundation, for which we refer the reader to the work itself. (' Amours des Salamandres Aquatiques, et Developement du Telard de ces Salamandres depuis jusqu' h l'Animal Parfait,' Milan, 1821.) Prior to the time of depositing her eggs, the female remains immoveable ; at last she moves, and slowly goes in search of a plant proper for receiving her eggs, choosing almost always, when present, the Polygonum Persicaria. She first approaches her head to the edges of a leaf, and turns it with her snout in such a way that the lower surface of the leaf, which was towards the bottom, is turned towards her breast : then with her fore-paws she passes the turned leaf beneath her belly, seizes it with her hind-paws, and conducts it beneath the vent, folding it at the same time, and forming with it an angle the opening of which is directed towards the tail. The egg in escaping from the vent would thus pass through the middle of the angle formed by the leaf, but the salamander stops it in its fall by her hind-feet, shuts up this angle with them, and thus forms in the leaf a fold in which the egg is held. Still on the removal of the feet the egg would fall to the bottom of the water ; but the careful parent, before she quits the leaf, folds it so firmly with her hind-feet that the gluten with which the envelope of the egg is surrounded spreads from the pressure on the two internal surfaces of the leaf, and prevents the folds from opening. When several eggs
have been laid in this manner, in different leaves, the female remains quiet until another male comes to caress her. Rnsconi did not ascertain how long the period of laying continued ; but he found eggs as early as the middle of April and as late as the middle of July.
The following figures, given by the same author, exhibit the several stages of the evolution of the egg which was kept on its proper leaf : , these stages are denoted by the dates of the days on which the drawings were made. Thus, the figure marked 23rd April shows the egg of its natural size, and the figure below it the same magnified.
Tritois crisiatus, female, In the act of compressing a turned leaf upon her Included egg. The leaves folded bock represent those In which eggs have already been thus laid. (Ituseoni.) insects, and indeed any small living animals which come in its way, are unsparingly devoured. It is a great destroyer of tadpoles, and the smaller Water-Newt (Lissotritonpunctatus) frequently falls a victim to its ferocity and voracity. Mr. Bell has taken them more than once in the net of swallowing an individual of the smaller species, which The temperature of tho water during the period of Ruseoni's obser vations varied from 22° to Centigrade to 80'6° Ftthr.) The globule in the centre of the ovum is white with a yellow tint, and is environed with a glairy matter, to which it is not attached, so that it can move freely in every direction. Its envelope is membranous, of glassy transparence, and covered with a very clear viscid matter : the specific gravity of this matter appears to be less than that of the globule. In three days the globule had undergone the change exhibited at April 26. Under the microscope may be observed in the embryo the commencement of the parts which are to become the head, the belly, and the tail. The globule at first becomes enlarged, then elongated, and its previously smooth surface presents some small eminences. If it has not been fecundated, or has lost its prolific power, it enlarges, nevertheless, during the first days, as in ordinary cases, but afterwards changes so as to resemble a vesicle half filled with water ; when this appearance comes on, the egg has lost its vitality.