THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES
By Hans Gadow, M.A. (Cantab.), Ph.D. (Jena), F.R.S., Strickland Curator and Lecturer on Advanced Morphology of Vertebrata in the University of Cambridge.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
1909
First Edition 1901
Reprinted 1909
PREFACE
Linnaeus had but a poor opinion of the Amphibia and their describers, or he would not have called the former "pessima tetraque animalia," nor would he have dismissed the latter with the terse remark: "Amphibiologi omnium paucissimi sunt nullique veri." That was, however, nearly 150 years ago; and at the present time there are fewer difficulties in writing a book on Amphibia and Reptiles. Those who care for the study of Amphibia and Reptiles–the Herpetologists, to give them their scientific title–have never been numerous; but most of them have been serious students. One reason for the fact that this branch of Natural History is not very popular, is a prejudice against creatures some of which are clammy and cold to the touch, and some of which may be poisonous. People who delight in keeping Newts or Frogs, Tortoises or Snakes, are, as a rule, considered eccentric. But in reality these cold-blooded creatures are of fascinating interest provided they are studied properly. The structure of animals is intimately connected with their life-habits; and this correlation is perhaps more apparent in Amphibia and Reptiles than in any other class. The anatomist who studies internal and external structure is as much struck with the almost endless variety in details as he who takes the trouble to observe the living animal in its native haunts, or at least under conditions not too unnatural. He will agree with V. von Scheffel's Toad "that those above seem to have no notion of the beauties of the swamp"–brilliantly coloured Newts engaged in amorous play, concert-giving Frogs, and metamorphosing Tadpoles. The motto assigned to the Reptiles seems singularly appropriate when we consider that poisonous snakes have been developed from harmless forms, and that many kinds of reptiles have lost limbs, teeth, and eyesight in the process of evolution.
The present work is intended to appeal to two kinds of readers–to the field-naturalist, who, while interested in life-histories, habits, and geographical distribution, beauty or strangeness of forms, is indifferent to the homologies of the metasternum or similar questions;–and to the morphologist, who in his turn is liable to forget that his specimens were once alive.
A great portion of the book is anatomical and systematic. It was necessary to treat anatomy, especially that of the skeleton, somewhat fully, since it has long been recognised that it is impossible to base a scientific classification upon external characters. The reader familiar with Vertebrate anatomy has a right to expect that questions of special morphological interest will be dwelt upon at length. Those who have no anatomical foundation must be referred to one of the now numerous introductory manuals on the subject.