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SALAMANDER

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 58 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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SALAMANDER . Salamanders in the restricted sense (genus Salamandra of N. Laurenti) are See also:

close See also:

ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

allies of the newts, but of exclusively terrestrial habits, indicated by the shape of the tail, which is not distinctly compressed. The genus is restricted in its See also:

HABITAT (a French word derived from habiter, Lat. habitare, to dwell)

habitat to the western parts of the Palaearctic region and represented by four See also:

SPECIES

species only: the spotted salamander, S. maculosa, the well-known See also:

black and yellow creature inhabiting Central and See also:

SOUTHERN

Southern See also:

EUROPE

Europe, See also:

North-See also:

West See also:

Africa and See also:

South-Western See also:

ASIA

Asia; the black salamander, S. atra, restricted to the See also:

ALPS

Alps; S. caucasica from the See also:

CAUCASUS

Caucasus, and S. luschani from Asia See also:

Minor. Salamanders, far from being able to withstand the See also:

ACTION

action of See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire, as was believed by the ancients, are only found in See also:

DAMP

damp places, and emerge in misty See also:

WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. ve8r, and Ger. Wetter and Gewitter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived " wind ")

weather only or after thunderstorms, when they may appear in enormous See also:

numbers in localities where at other times their presence would not be suspected. They are usually much dreaded by See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country See also:

PEOPLE

people, and filthough they are quite harmless to See also:

man, the large glands which are disposed very regularly on their smooth, shiny bodies, secrete a very active, milky See also:

POISON

poison which protects them from the attacks of many enemies. The breeding habits of the two well-known See also:

EUROPEAN

European species are highly interesting. They pair on See also:

LAND

land, the male clasping the See also:

FEMALE

female at the arms, and the impregnation is See also:

INTERNAL

internal. See also:

Long after pairing the female gives See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth to living See also:

young. S. maculosa, which lives in plains or at See also:

low altitudes (up to 3000 ft.), deposits her young, ten to fifty in number, in the See also:

WATER

water, in springs or cool rivulets, and these young at birth are of small See also:

SIZE

size, provided with See also:

EXTERNAL

external gills and four limbs, in every way similar to advanced See also:

NEWT (a corrupted form from " an evet " or " an effet," a term of Anglo-Saxon origin, still used in many parts of England)

newt larvae. S. atra, on the other See also:

hand, inhabits the Alps between 2000 and 9000 ft. See also:

ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude. Localities at such altitudes not being, as a See also:

RULE

rule, suitable for larval See also:

LIFE

life in the water, the young are retained in the uterus, until the completion of the See also:

METAMORPHOSIS

metamorphosis.

Only two young, rarely three or four, are See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born, and they may measure as much as 5o mm. at birth, the See also:

MOTHER

mother measuring only 120. The uterine eggs are large and numerous, as in S. maculosa, but as a rule only one fully develops in each uterus, the embryo being nourished on the yolk of the other eggs, which more or less dissolve to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a large See also:

mass of nutrient See also:

MATTER

matter. The embryo passes through three stages—(1) still en-closed within the See also:

egg and living on its own yolk; (2) See also:

FREE

free, within the vitelline mass, which is directly swallowed by the mouth; (3) there is no more vitelline mass, but the embryo is possessed of long external gills, which serve for an See also:

EXCHANGE

exchange of nutritive fluid through the maternal uterus, these gills functioning in the same way as the chorionic villi of the mammalian egg. Embryos in the second See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage,if artificially released from the uterus, are able to live in water, in the same way as similarly See also:

DEVELOPED

developed larvae of S. maculosa. But the uterine gills soon See also:

WITHER, GEORGE (1588-1667)

wither and are See also:

SHED

shed, and are replaced by other gills differing in no respect from those of its congener.

End of Article: SALAMANDER

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SALAMANCA (anc. Salmantica or Elmantica)

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SALAMIS