Studies in the theory of descent / by Dr. August Weismann...with notes and additions by the author; tr. and ed., with notes, by Raphael Meldola...with a prefatory notice by Charles Darwin...with eight coloured plates.

  • August Weismann
Date:
1882
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Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Studies in the theory of descent / by Dr. August Weismann...with notes and additions by the author; tr. and ed., with notes, by Raphael Meldola...with a prefatory notice by Charles Darwin...with eight coloured plates. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    56/698 (page 566)
    566 Shidies in the Theo7'y of Descent. Amblystoma in the neighbourhood of the lakes, nevertheless the larva (Axolotl) is so common there that it is brought into the market by thou¬ sands. De Saussure believes that in Mexico the Axolotl does not undergo transformation.^ The same statement is distinctly made by Cope,^ whose specimens of Siredon Mexicanus bred in America, even in captivity showed no tendency to become metamorphosed.'' On the other hand Tegetmeier observed ^ that one out of five specimens obtained from the Lake of Mexico underwent metamorphosis, and this accordingly establishes the second fact, viz. that the true Axolotl becomes transformed under certain conditions into an Amblystoma when in captivity. This last remark would be superfluous if, as was for a long time believed, the Paris Axolotls, of which the metamorphosis was first observed and which at the time made such a sensation, were actually Siredon Mexicanus, i. e. the Siredon which alone in its native country bears the name of Axolotl. In his first communication Duméril was himself of this opinion ; he then termed the animal [Eng. ed. In 1878 Señor José M. Velasco published a paper entitled Descripción, metamorfosis, y costumbres de una especie nueva del genero Siredon. Memor. Sociedad Mexicana de Historia Natural, December 26th, See Addendum to this essay]. ® Dana and Silliman's Amer. Journ., 3rd series, i. p. 89. Annals Nat. Hist. vii. p. 246. ^ Proc. Zoo. Soc. 1870, p. 160.