ms to help it to breathe, although
it has perfect lungs and can breathe, as well as move, equally
comfortably on land and in water. The front feet are like hands, and
each has three fingers, whilst the back limbs have only two. The eyes
are very tiny, like those of the rat or mole; its mouth is well set with
teeth, proving it to be a beast of prey, and its organs of smell are
fully developed. A great authority has declared its spine to be like
those of the monster animals of pre-historic ages known as Saurians. The
most extraordinary part of the Proteus' history is that it seems
perfectly able to live without food. It has never been seen to eat in
captivity, and one has been kept alive for years by occasionally
changing the water in which it lives. These animals were originally
discovered in the Grottoes of Laybach, and later on at Adelsberg, being
rare in dry seasons, but plentiful after heavy rains.

HELENA HEATH.

INSECT WAYS AND MEANS.

XI.--CATERPILLARS AND THEIR ENEMIES.

(_Concluded from page 357._)

The caterpillar of the North American Great Peacock moth (fig. 4) is
armed with numerous tufts of prickles ending in minute black points
which pierce the hand if touched, and cause severe pain. These spines,
as shown in the illustration (fig. 2, A B, on page 357) are hollow, and
filled with liquid poison. 'A' is the portion which breaks off; 'B' the
hollow base which contains the poison.

In some few caterpillars the poison spines take the form of balls armed
with short prickles and one large spike; hence they are known as caltrop
spines (fig. 2, C), from their likeness to the cruel weapons, known as
caltrops, which used to be scattered over the ground in time of war to
repel the attacks of cavalry; the spikes forced their way into the
horses' feet when trampled on, and so disabled them.

The spines of the caterpillar of our Oak Eggar moth are very brittle,
and in handling these insects, great care must be taken, as cases are
known of blindness having been caused by the spines being carried into
the eyes by the fingers.

Let us now turn to the liquid squirts with which some caterpillars are
provided. Our Spurge-hawk caterpillar, for example, when threatened,
squirts from the mouth a spray of poison. In our illustration (fig. 5)
it is shown repelling the attack of the dreaded ichneumon fly by means
of this spray. The quaint Puss moth, which many _Chatterbox_ readers
must have seen, can squirt out an