co City; at the same time he feels
very [v.03 p.0070] suspicious of the various statements to that effect
which have appeared in so many works, and rather disposed to make light of
the ingenious theories launched by biological speculators who have never
set foot in Mexico, especially Weismann's picture of the dismal condition
of the salt-incrusted surroundings which were supposed to have hemmed in
the axolotl--the brackish Lago de Texcoco, the largest of the lakes near
Mexico, being evidently in the philosopher's mind.

Thanks to the enthusiasm of H. Gadow during his visit to Mexico in the
summer of 1902, we are now better informed on the conditions under which
the axolotl lives near Mexico City. First, he ascertained that there are no
axolotls at all in the Lago de Texcoco, thus disposing at once of the
Weismannian explanation; secondly, he confirmed A. Duges's statement that
there is a second species of _Amblystoma_, which is normal in its
metamorphosis, near Mexico but at a higher altitude, which may explain
Velasco's observation that regularly transforming _Amblystomas_ occur near
that city; and thirdly, he made a careful examination of the two lakes,
Chalco and Xochimilco, where the axolotls occur in abundance and are
procured for the market. The following is an abstract of Gadow's very
interesting account. "Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco are a paradise, situated
about 10 ft. higher than the Texcoco Lake and separated from it by several
hills. High mountains slope down to the southern shores, with a belt of
fertile pastures, with shrubs and trees and little streams, here and there
with rocks and ravines. In fact, there are thousands of inviting
opportunities for newts to leave the lake if they wanted to do so. Lake
Xochimilco contains powerful springs, but away from them the water appears
dark and muddy, full of suspended fresh and decomposing vegetable matter,
teeming with fish, larvae of insects, _Daphniae_, worms and axolotl. These
breed in the beginning of February. The native fishermen know all about
them; how the eggs are fastened to the water plants, how soon after the
little larvae swarm about in thousands, how fast they grow, until by the
month of June they are all grown into big, fat creatures ready for the
market; later in the summer the axolotls are said to take to the rushes, in
the autumn they become scarce, but none have ever been known to leave the
water or to metamorphose, nor are any perfect _Amblystom