RECREATIVE NATURAL HISTORY.

THE NEWT AND SALAMANDER.

MANY of our readers must have frequently seen the common newt, or eft, so abundant in ditches, pools, brooks, and moist places. Whether the animal may have been the great water-newt (Triton cristatus, or crested newt), measuring six inches in length, or the small water-newt (Triton punstatus, or speckled newt), not more than half that size, the observer must have paused a moment to mark the motions of the creature. Both belong to the once dreaded salamander family; but no land salamander is found in Britain, their proper homes being in central and southern Europe. The whole family is closely allied to the frogs and toads, and has, both in ancient and modern times, excited the attention of naturalists. Our observations must be principally on the British newts, which, the reader will remember, are often called salamanders.

No one can mistake the large English water-newt for any other reptile. The orange tint and black spots on the under part of the body; the sides speckled with white dots; the overhanging upper lip; the body covered with little wart-like tubercles; all give the animal a peculiar appearance. The crest along the back of the male is seen in the spring only, when the animal assumes its brightest tints and exhibits the greatest activity. Some of the foreign newts are much larger than our British kinds. The species found in the waters of the Alleghany and Ohio rivers is two feet long, being called in some parts the "fish salamander," in others the "ground puppy," or young alligator.

The newts are, in some respects, peculiarly formed. Though belonging to the great division of vertebrated animals, they cannot be said to possess true ribs. An inspection of a skeleton will show the rudiments of these bones, looking as if the ribs had begun to grow and were then suddenly checked in their

tail tremulously vibrated. The creature thus floats as easily as if it were a piece of wood. The newts are then, generally, looking out for a dinner. No sooner does some small animal come near than it is seized with a ferocity which we should not have expected to find in these timid reptiles. The tadpole of the frog meets with no mercy, and indeed the large newt, when hungry, will swallow its relative, the small water-eft, without hesitation. The teeth of these reptiles, though fine, are sharp and numerous," looking like a saw of minute points. Some foreign species, closely allied to our newts, possess above three hundred of these needle-like teeth. Few persons looking at a newt as it swims in a ditch would suppose that such an insignificant creature has been the subject of study and experiments by some of the greatest physiologists and anatomists. A deep mystery of life was the problem to be solved; and in spite of all the labours of men like Spalanzani, Duméril, Bonnet, Von Siebald, and Owen,

development. The vertebræ of the tail are very numerous, thirty-six having been counted in the tail of the small newt, and nearly the same number in that of the large water-eft. These numerous joints probably facilitate the rapid vibratory movements of the organ characteristic of this reptile, especially in spring. The bones of the fore-leg have a striking resemblance to a miniature human arm. The two bones-the radius, to which the hand is united, and the ulna, linked to the upper arm at the elbow joint-are both visible in the newt. Thus the grand unity of structure, so remarkable in the vertebrated animals, is clearly to be traced through all the links which connect the highest forms with the lowest. One plan is seen amidst all the diversities. The legs of the newt, though small, are used in combination with the tail to support the animal in a remarkable way on the surface of the water. These reptiles may often be seen floating on the surface of a pool, with so little motion that they appear dead. The legs are extended on the water, the feet spread out, and the

VOL. III.

the solution has not been made. The legs of newts have been repeatedly amputated, and have grown again. The limb when thus reproduced has been again cut off, and again has it been formed. In one case the same leg was thus amputated and thus re-formed four times in succession. The tail has shown again and again the same mysterious vital energy, forming gradually new bones, new nerves, and new muscles. These fresh limbs were not always reproduced exactly in their original form and perfection. Sometimes a claw would be deficient, sometimes redundant. The eye was completely removed from a newt; in a year a perfectly-formed new eye was reproduced. No part of the complex organ of vision was wanting, no part distorted. The above experiments show a singular power of reproducing destroyed organs; the following illustrates an extraordinary degree of vital energy. M. Duméril cut off all that part of a newt's head which contains the eyes, nostrils, ears and tongue, and then placed the creature in water at the bottom of a jar. Fresh water

was supplied every day, and the animal's motions were carefully watched for about three months. The newt came to the top of the water at first, as if to breathe; its movements were slow, as if perplexed by its novel condition, but the creature continued to live, and retained all the vital energies unimpaired. The wounded part healed, new flesh was formed, and the hole made by the scissors in cutting off the head was completely closed within three months. How did the animal breathe? Probably through the skin, which thus discharged the office of a lung. How long the newt would have lived, and whether any reproduction of the lost head might have ensued, must be left doubtful. The reptile, having been left in charge of a fresh attendant, died from inattention, not being supplied with fresh water. The above experiments should be made in the spring, when the newt's vital energies are most active and most able to recover from the shock which such mutilation must give, even to a reptile's system.

A series of observations were carried on by the naturalist Ca

Rusconi, in order to trace all the stops by which a water-newt advances from the egg to its perfect state. The egg was noted on the 23rd of April, when it was deposited by the parent on a leaf, and the daily changes were watched under the microscope until the 6th of May, when the young newt was hatched. The water was kept all the time at a temperature of about 70° of Fahrenheit's thermometer. Want of space prevents us from describing all the steps in the development of the animal, but many readers can conduct a similar series of observations for themselves. We will, however, note a few of the more important stages in the advance. In five days the head, gills, forefeet, and tail were first seen in the egg; in four days more the beating of the heart was noticed; in another day the little creature moved in the egg; and on the 5th of May the eyes were clearly seen. On the next day the struggles of the imprisoned reptile broke its shell, and the newt was hatched. The second set of observations now began, by which the progress of the animal was noted through all the tadpole stages to the fullydeveloped animal. The little fish-like reptile secured itself by two hook-like appendages to a leaf, and then seemed to go to sleep for a day or two. On the 18th of May, twelve days after the hatching, the newt measured about half an inch long; the toes of the fore-feet were formed, the gills appeared; the tadpole was able to swim actively, and even to catch aquatic insects. On the 28th of May it had grown to the length of an inch; the hindlegs appeared, and the toes of the fore-leg were nearly perfect. On the 18th of June the tadpole reached its final stage, and then began to change into the newt. The gills were gradually obliterated, the lungs formed, the ear-holes closed, and on the 27th of July the reptile took the complete form of a water-newt. We must now pause to describe the ingenious method by which the eft* secures the safety of her eggs, and shows herself to be a clever mechanic. She selects a leaf of some water plant, deposits a single erg upon the under-side of the leaf, then with her feet bends the leaf back, so that it forms a case or box for the egg. But the leaf, thus doubled back, would soon straighten again, and leave the egg unprotected. To prevent this, the newt pours out a gummy fluid from her body, and glues the bent part of the leaf to the other or lower portion. Thus a protecting receptacle is formed for the egg, where it is hatched in security. The mode in which this leaf-nest is formed, and the exact order in which all the stages of the work proceed, may almost lead some to suspect that the newt "must be able to reason." These bent and doubled leaves may often be seen in places where efts abound, and by breaking three or four off and putting them into a jar, with water not lower in temperature than 65° Fahrenheit, the reader may watch all the stages of a newt's life.

We must now make a few remarks on the eft's relative, the once dreaded salamander. Never was an animal so hated with so little reason. The salamander proper (Salamandra maculosa) resembles the newts in form, but it dwells on the land, loving cool holes under old walls, and the roots of trees. One quality universally ascribed to this reptile was its power of living in the fire. It was one of "the best proved facts" in natural history that the salamander was the "lord of fire." Francis I. of France showed his belief in the marvellous tale by adopting for his device a salamander in the flames, thereby hinting to his foes that he, like that fearful reptile, was indestructible. The wild belief in some countries was that if a fire should ever be allowed to continue burning for seven years, a salamander would be produced from such flames. This superstition, however, was not the cause of the intense hate borne towards the salamander, but it invested the animal with a dread mysteriousness. How could such a notion continue through so many ages, when the matter might have been easily tested by throwing a salamander on the fire? People are not willing to put their superstitions to the test, and there was one slight foundation of fact on which the whole monstrous pile of error was raised. The salamander can pour out a little watery fluid from its skin when excited, and on some occasions this fluid may have damped for a moment the flame of some fire, on which the animal may have been cast. The poor salamander was also believed to have the deadly power of poisoning, not only the whole fruit of a tree on which it might creep, but the vegetation of a large district. Even innocent, cows were not safe from the malicious reptile, which sometimes

Readers will remember that the animal is called both eft and newt.

sucked their milk, robbing them and the irritated farmer by one felonious act. The bite of the creature was deemed so deadly that a proverb expressed the fears of men and the helplessness of the physician. "If a salamander bites you, put on your shroud," was the doleful counsel given to the luckless wight who might have been scratched by the tiny teeth of this animal. Could no good, then, be obtained from the horrid creature? Yes; the heart, worn round the neck, would preserve the wearer from perils by fire! The chemists of old times professed to be able to turn the salamander to a wondrous use. The mode of operation and the expected results may thus be stated:-Catch one of the reptiles, put it in a crucible on a fire, pour quicksilver over the roasting animal; then, if all went well, the metal would be turned into gold! But one caution was essential: the operator must be a man of pure mind and heart, or no treasure would appear. The universal failure of the experiments speaks little in favour of the moral condition of the old chemists.

The reader will see, from the preceding remarks, how ignorance has filled the minds of men with abject dread of nature. War against the animal kingdom was the result. It is not the least advantage of natural history that it has dispelled most of these delusions, while it discloses innumerable wonders of structure, and remarkable instances of animal ingenuity.

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY.-XX. THE METALS OF THE EARTH-GLASS, PORCELAIN-ZINC. IN the third class of metals are those whose oxides have not such marked basic properties as either of the preceding classes, alkaline earths. They are ten in number-aluminum, glucinum, and they are therefore denominated metals of the earths, not zirconium, thorinum, yttrium, erbium, terbium, cerium, lanthanum, and didymium. None of the group present sufficient interest to require our attention except

ALUMINUM or ALUMINIUM.

SYMBOL, Al- COMBINING WEIGHT, 274- SPECIFIC GRAVITY, 2'6. This metal may be obtained by decomposing its chloride by the galvanic current; but, as in the case of magnesium, an easier method is found to be by the agency of sodium. The chloride, melted into vapour, is caused to pass over melted sodium; this latter metal appropriates the chlorine of the salt, and the aluminum is deposited. It is a bluish-white metal, remarkable for its lightness. It does not readily oxidise when exposed to air. These properties have recommended it for the making of ornamental trinkets. out into wire and rolled into plates. It is capable of being drawn When struck it gives a clear musical note. It is but little affected by nitric, but dissolves with rapidity in hydrochloric acid, giving off hydroger, and forming the chloride; thus

2A1 + 6HCI = Al, Cl. + 6H.

Hence the metal is Triatomic. It promises to become of some value in making alloys. Ten of aluminum and ninety of copper produce an alloy of great strength and elasticity-the "Aluminum bronze." Its appearance is very like gold.

Alumina (AlO3) is the only oxide. It appears almost pure, and in a crystalline state, in the precious stones-corundum, ruby, sapphire. Emery is another form of this substance. It is also present in considerable quantities in clay, being originally derived from the decomposition of felspar. For commercial purposes it is got by treating a solution of soda-alum with hydrochloric acid, which is evaporated to dryness and heated; the mass is then washed with water, and alumina remains. Its chief use is in dyeing; it possesses the property of combining with certain organic colouring matters, and forming insoluble pigments termed lakes. Most colouring matters will not "main in the fibre of the material; when this is the case, the cloth, etc., is soaked in a preparation of alumina, and then dipped into a bath of the dye. By this means an insoluble compound is formed in the fibre of the material, and the substance is dyed "fast." The sesquioxides of iron and chromium, and the oxide of tin, are mordants as well as alumina.

Aluminum Chloride (Al,Cl). The process which would at once suggest itself for obtaining this salt-namely, of acting on alumina with hydrochloric acid-does not admit of being practised, for on evaporating and heating the acid is driven off. The method devised by Oersted is therefore used. Alumina

is mixed with powdered charcoal, and made into a paste with ail or starch; the mass is subdivided into pellets; these are placed in a tube of porcelain, which is heated in a charcoal furnace, and a current of chlorine is passed through it. The aluminum chloride condenses in a cool receiver. The chemical action is thus expressedA10, +3C + 6C1 = AICI. + 3CO.

Aluminum Sulphate (A1,3SO) is made for the use of the dyer in large quantities in the north of England. Clay, which has been roasted, is acted upon by half its weight of sulphuric acid. At Whitby, however, this addition of acid is unnecessary. The alum schist contains iron pyrites and in the slow roasting some of the sulphur of this compound becomes sulphuric acid. Water is added, and the clear liquid is drawn off; the iron it contains is precipitated as Prussian blue by sodium ferrocyanide. On evaporation, thin flexible scales of the salt are obtained.

Alums are double salts formed by aluminum sulphate and an alkaline sulphate; thus common alum is Al,K,4SO, + 24H0, that is, it is a compound of Al,3SO, and K,SO, (potassium sulphate) with twenty-four molecules of water of crystallisation. It is found native in volcanic neighbourhoods, where the sulphuric acid from the volcano has combined with the potash and alumina in lava to produce it. At the Whitby Alum Works the iron is not precipitated as Prussian blue. In the roasting it becomes green vitriol (sulphate of iron). To the clear liquid, which contains aluminum sulphate and iron sulphate, a solution of potassium chloride is added. The iron sulphate now becomes iron chloride, and the potassium sulphate with the aluminum sulphate form alum. This is separated by crystallisation, and sent to market.

Soda Alum, or Ammonia Alum, may be made by using the salts of those alkalies, instead of the potassium salt, in the above

process.

The sesquioxides of iron, chrome, and manganese are capable of taking the place of alumina, with its compounds; hence they are said to be isomorphous with alumina. When they do this in alum, iron alum, chrome alum, or manganese alum is produced. Clay is aluminum silicate, and is the result of the decomposition of felspar, one of the constituents of the primary rocks. When clay is got directly from the felspar, it is called kaolin, or porcelain clay.

Clay, when it absorbs water, becomes soft and plastic, offering the best of mediums by which the tender rootlets of plants can take up the potash, ammonia, etc., necessary for their growth. The clay used for making bricks must have a large proportion of silica in its composition.

The following table will at once show the difference of the various clays:

300 parts of white sand (silica), 100 of carbonate of soda, 43 of slaked lime, and 300 of cullet, or broken glass, of the same kind. These ingredients are placed in a conical crucible and melted. The crucible is allowed to stand some time in a high temperature, in order that any impurities may settle to the bottom. The fused glass is then poured out on a table of cast iron, and the thickness is regulated by ledges of the same metal. The liquid glass is made to cover this table rapidly by a heavy roller passing over it.

If

As is the case with all glass, the plate is next annealed, that is, it is allowed to cool very slowly in an oven whose temperature is gradually diminished during a fortnight. glass be cooled at all suddenly, it becomes so brittle as to be useless. The grinding and polishing of the plate is effected by causing one plate to move upon the surface of another by machinery, the grinding materials being fine sand and water. When a smooth surface is thus obtained, the plate is polished, first by fine emery and then by peroxide of iron.

Bohemian glass is a silicate of potash and lime, and on account of its infusibility is used in the laboratory.

Bottle glass, the colour of which is immaterial, is composed of 100 parts of sand, 80 of soaper's waste, 80 of gas lime, 5 of clay, and 3 of rock salt.

Flint glass has these ingredients :-Pure sand, 100; red lead, 20; pearl-ash, 40; nitre, 2; and cullet, 100.

The lead gives great lustre to the glass, by increasing its refractive power; hence this glass is used for optical purposes. In its manufacture the crucibles are closed, lest the air should "reduce" the lead. It will be frequently observed that this takes place in a piece of tubing, if held in the blow-pipe flame for some time. It at first appears as if the tube was "smoked."

Coloured glasses are obtained by the addition of various metallic oxides. Gems are imitated by making a glass which contains as much as 53 per cent. of lead oxide. This is termed 'paste."

66

Porcelain differs from glass in the great preponderance of silicate of alumina in its composition. It consists mainly of clay, which is infusible, and some alkaline silicate which fuses and binds the clay together, rendering it impervious to moisture. The fineness of the ware entirely depends on the purity of the clays, etc., from which it is made. The glaze which covers porcelain is produced by dipping the "biscuit" ware into water in which is suspended finely-ground felspar; the porous mass absorbs the moisture, leaving the surface covered uniformly with the fels par. It is then exposed in seggars to a very high temperature, by which the felspar is melted and the glaze produced. Stone ware and common "pottery ware" are glazed by means of common salt. The ware is dipped in sand and water, placed in the furnace, into which has been thrown moist salt. The heat quickly converts the salt into vapour. In the presence of the steam the silica on the ware decomposes the salt, forming a silicate of sodium which glazes the article, and hydrochloric acid which

SYMBOL, Zn

ZINC.

COMBINING WEIGHT, 65-SPECIFIC GRAVITY, 7·1—
MELTING POINT, 423 CENT.

This metal is never found native, but is associated with sulphur and carbonic acid in its two chief ores, blende anl calamine. The former is zinc sulphide, and in England is usually found with galena, the sulphide of lead, in mountain limestone; the latter is zine carbonate, of which there are mines in the Mendip Hills.

crushed, is roasted; by this process the sulphur of the blende is burnt away as SO2, and the carbonic acid of the calamine is driven off.

Extraction of the Metal from its Ores.-The ore, after being

The oxide of zinc which remains is mixed with half its weight of powdered coal, and placed in large clay crucibles; these are heated in a furnace, their delivery tubes passing through holes in the walls. At first the blue flame of carbonic oxide issues from them, and when this changes to white the metal is distilling. A long iron pipe, eight feet long, is then fitted on the discharge pipe, and zinc distils into iron vessels placed to receive it at the end of this tube.

Zine is a very crystalline metal. A little below 150° it is soft

and ductile, but at 200° it becomes so brittle as to bear pounding in a mortar. At a bright red heat it melts and volatilises, and its vapour burns with a bright yellowish flame into the oxide.

Zinc can decompose both steam and carbonic acid at a red heat, and, as we have seen, is dissolved in sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids, giving off hydrogen and forming the corresponding salt. With nitric acid, however, the action is varied with the strength of the acid and the temperature; nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, nitrogen, or ammonia being given off according to circumstances.

Zinc precipitates all metals less oxidisable than itself from their solutions; but a strong boiling solution of potash dissolves it, hydrogen being liberated and an oxide of zinc formed, which is dissolved by the alkali. When exposed to the air, it becomes covered by a firmly-adhering coat of oxide, which protects the metal beneath from any further action of the air; hence it is used to galvanise iron, which is effected by plunging a sheet of iron, perfectly clean, into a bath of molten zinc, covered by sal-ammoniac; the zinc readily adheres to the iron. It forms many useful alloys. Brass is the most important, consisting of two parts of copper and one of zinc. German Silver is brass whitened by the addition of a little nickel. » Zinc Sulphate, or White Vitriol (ZnSO), appears, when a solution of zinc in sulphuric acid is evaporated, as colourless four-sided acicular prisms.

Zinc Sulphide (ZnS) is precipitated as a white gelatinous mass when sulphuretted hydrogen passes through a solution of zinc sulphate. The presence of a mineral acid prevents the precipitation.

Zinc Chloride (ZnCl) is largely used as an antiseptic, as "Burnett's Disinfecting Fluid." It is easily obtained by dissolving the metal in hydrochloric acid.

The salts of zinc are distinguished by giving no precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen in acid solutions. They yield a white precipitate, with potash, soda, or ammonia, which is

soluble in excess of the alkali.

If placed on charcoal in the blow-pipe flame, when moistened with cobalt nitrate, a green residue remains which is not fusible.

LESSONS IN ITALIAN.-IV.
III.-THE SEMI-VOWELS (continued).

I HAVE not yet spoken of the letter H. It is named in the alphabet acca (pronounced ah'k-kah). According to its alphabetical sound, and because its two syllables are substantially one, only placed inversely, it might be classed as a semi-vowel; but as it is only an auxiliary letter to modify the sounds of c and g, as I shall have occasion to explain fully hereafter, it is a mere soundless, written sign, not a letter. It also serves to distinguish the words ho, I have, from o, or; hai, thou hast, from ai, dative plural of the article; ha, he has, from a, the preposition "to"; and hanno, they have, from anno, the year. This distinction is, however, only for the eye, for, in pronouncing, the h is quite mute; and some purists, headed by Metastasio, instead of an h, put the grave accent in those first four words.

The Italian has no aspirates, which essentially distinguishes it from the leading languages of Europe. Only in the middle, and at the end of some few interjections, a kind of aspiration is heard, which is only produced by the prolongation of the sound of the vowel, or of the transition of the voice from one vowel to another-principally, however, by a more emphatic emotion by which such interjections are thrown out; as, for example, ah! ahi! deh! ahimè! eh! oh! ehi! ohi! ohimè! doh!

In the early period of the language, the Italians wrote all words manifestly of Latin origin with an initial h; as, for example, habile, now abile; hinno, now inno; hora, now ora; historia, now istoria. This insignificance of the h has given rise to some proverbial expressions: as, "Questa cosa non vale un' acca," "this is not worth an h," or, as an Englishman would say, "not worth a fig, or a farthing;" or, "Non m' importa un' acca," "I don't care an h for it," or, as an Englishman would say, "I don't care a straw for it;" or "Non ne saper un' acca,' "not to know an h of something;" or, as is often said in England, "an iota of it." When an Italian has to pronounce the h in another language, it is only with the greatest difficulty he can master it.

To complete my remarks on the alphabet, I must now say something of the letters K, W, X, and Y, important letters in English, but which do not occur in Italian.

Instead of k, the Italians use before consonants, and before the vowels a, o, and u, the letter c; and before the vowels e and i, ch. For example, instead of Kalend, the Italians write Calende.

The English letter w does not occur at all in Italian.

The letter X, which represents, properly speaking, a compound sound (ks), is unknown in pure Italian words, and the English sound is never heard. In words of foreign origin, which would have this sound in English, the Italians place an s or ss, or c; as for the word example (from the Latin exemplum), the Italians write essempio; for extreme (from Latin extremus), they write estremo; for Xenophon, Senofonte; for Xerxes, Serse; for Alexander, Alessandro. The letter c replaces the x in words which are the compounds of the prefix ex, when c follows it; for example, for excellent they write eccellente; for excess, eccesso, etc. Custom has, however, sanctioned the use of the a in a few words of Greek origin, for Xantippe and Xanto (Xanthus, the river in Asia Minor) are just so written in Italian. They are nevertheless pronounced as if they were written Santippe and Santo. (The latter word has retained the a principally that it might not be confounded in writing with the word Santo, a saint.)

The letter y is always replaced in Italian by i; as, for example, for physics (physical science), the Italians say fisica; for stygian, stigio. SECOND PRONOUNCING TABLE,

Showing the combination of Vowels with Semi-Vowels in
Natural Order.

That my pupil readers may thoroughly exercise themselves in pronunciation, in order to give a complete illustration of the junction of vowels and semi-vowels in natural order, I have selected words of two syllables, in which the first syllable of the first word is the same as the concluding syllable of the second.