Salamander

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Considering mankind's inherent fascination with animals, it is no surprise that a creature as openly docile and harmless as the salamander should have become such a frequent of poetic and prosaic metaphor, and have captured the imaginations of people of the eighteenth century so wildly that they came to simultaneously exist as a real, timid, garden-dwelling amphibian, and a fictitious, draconic reptile, supposedly kin with fire and Satan. Despite their complete documented harmlessness, the salamander can be seen as an image for courage and power, within the eighteenth century, though perhaps its featuring in Swift's poem 'The Salamander' in 1711 indicates that, as the actual, non-fictional creature began to become better understood, the image of the brave English soldier as a salamander became more satirical than genuine.

 

'The complete dictionary of arts and sciences. In which the whole circle of human learning is explained' identifies two "principal" breeds of salamander, within England: the 'salamandra aquatica', "the water-newt", and the 'salamandra terrestris' (81). The aquatica is a "two-edged-tail lizard", with four toes on each of the front feet and five on the hind, and grows to around four inches long and half an inch to an inch wide. Its back is listed as a "deep shining brown", and its belly a "bright and glossy yellow". The terrestris possesses a short tail, and is totally black, with red spots, and has a "bright and shining glossy appearance". The 'King's Cabinet' was said to hold a salamander of "seven inches fine lines in length, from the end of the muzzle to the root of the tail" (Cepede, 18), a particularly prodigious specimen. The Count de la Cepede reveals further details, such as pores on the skin "like teats" that secrete a mucous thought of as a "kind of milk", responsible for the salamander's gloss. Their teeth "establish a near relation between lizards and fishes" (19), near-replicating their dental makeup likely on account of their dwelling primarily within water, with teeth on both the top and the bottom of their mouths. Lacking ears, researchers assumed that this rendered the creature entirely deaf, and, following this logic, mute, out of a lack of any need to communicate aurally - this assumed lack of sensory perception led to the Count's diagnosis that salamanders must be "very stupid", and that any attributed boldness is on account not of their braving of danger, but of the fact that they cannot "perceive it" (20).

 

Apparently adapted primarily for swimming, the salamander appears to struggle with moving along ground, dragging itself with its legs rather than walking with any familiarity (19-20). Despite being adapted for water, they have been recorded as lacking the necessary gills for permanent water dwelling, and must seek air above the water's surface, which they breathe through their nostrils. Water that has been inhabited by salamanders is entirely potable, and, should their reluctant bite somehow manage to pierce the skin, they are, opposed to common belief for several centuries, completely nonvenomous.

 

The behaviour of the salamander has been recorded as particularly docile and inactive, only very furtively leaving their holes or dens, and being remarkably non-aggressive. The salamander has been known to, both, lay eggs, as well as birth live young - insemination takes place in water, where the male salamander ejaculates broadly, creating a "whitish cloud", the necessary sperm being received by the female's "swoln anus" (Erasmus Darwin, 106). It is carnivorous, feeding on any and all grubs and insects soft enough to bite and attack with their reportedly lacking predatory functions, with little distinction. As of the eighteenth century, it has no reported predators.

 

 

Figure 1 - Illustration of a Salamander and a Snake

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A Case of Mistaken Identity

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Strikingly, various accounts of salamanders in England, within the eighteenth-century, vary wildly in actual descriptions of the creature. Though 'The complete dictionary of arts and sciences' names two species within England, it is now reported that salamanders have never actually been indigenous to any countries of the United Kingdom. Indeed, the description of the salamandra aquatica perhaps best fits what is now known as the 'red-spotted newt', while the salamandra terrestris may well be the modern-day 'black salamander', but this creature is native only to North America, so though tales of its existence may well have got back to London in the 1760s, tales of salamanders being found and experimented on within England throughout the century, especially considering the seeming frequency of these sightings, are most likely referring instead to animals now officially classed as newts.

 

 

Figure 2 - Illustration of a Salamander from Namaqualand

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The salamander shown in Figure 2 appears to more closely resemble the modern bearded dragon than any known salamanders, and is certainly reptilian rather than amphibian, as demonstrated by the dry scales covering its body, as well as the clawed feet evolved for scampering, climbing, and fighting, rather than for enhanced hydrodynamics. It seems to be the case that the term 'salamander' was an all-applicable term used to generally refer to lizards and lizard-like amphibians without specifically known nomenclature. This inconsistent utilisation of the term likely stems from the salamander being seen as a mythical monster, emblematic of the element of fire, and has thus, much like the term 'dragon', been attached to a slew of unknown creatures in need of classification and bearing any degree of resemblance to the mythological conception. Tilingius suggests there was a time when the name had yet to be attached to any living creature, accounting for existing "...monstrous paintings and descriptions....sometimes representing it with the head of a sheep, and sometimes with the head of a serpent; sometimes cloathed with a languinous skin, and sometimes with a scaly skin, rough, oily..." (5). It has been variably classed as an amphibian, a reptile, a "worm", and even among "spiders".

 

Animals and the Scientific Method

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Much as we may owe to the scientific research of our forefathers, it is nevertheless staggering to recall the methods utilised and enacted by previous ‘scientists’ and ‘researchers’ in order to learn more about certain animals. For example, the Count de la Cepede’s research on salamanders, detailed in 1789, implies, both, a bizarre fascination with inane properties of alien looking animals, and a seeming lack of acknowledgement of any sense of animal rights. Acknowledging that he is researching from the basis of “human imagination”, which has “endowed” the salamander with “the most marvellous qualities”, granting the creature its status as symbolising fire for its famed indestructibility, Cepede proceeds to enact all manner of inhumane tests upon the creature, suggestive of other accepted means of animal testing within the century. Given its history of being sold by “quacks” (18, see Quackery) as capable of extinguishing fire of any magnitude, it was considered difficult to terminate, but has been seen to expire “in convulsions” (20) when dipped in vinegar or surrounded with powdered salt.

 

Though they did make use of the technique of dissection in order to discover more about creatures (uncovering that salamanders have the capability to birth live young as well as lay eggs through this method), there were additionally other, less conventional methods in use at the time. In order to ascertain whether or not a salamander’s bite is lethal and, therefore, whether they possess any sort of venom, the accepted method was to harass the creature until it was prompted into biting in defence, scaring and threatening it:

 

                                   "Mr. DeMaupertuis, in the course of his experiments, in vain irritated several salamanders, none of them ever opened its mouth; he was obliged to open it by force."

                                                                                                                                  (THE COUNT DE LA CEPEDE. "NATURAL HISTORY OF THE LAND SALAMANDER", P.21)

 

Upon having pried open the creature’s mouth, it was soon concluded that the animal’s teeth are too small for them to effectively bite a human, or, indeed, any mammal of medium to large size.

 

                                   "As the teeth of this lizard are very small, it was very difficult to find an animal with skin sufficiently fine to be penetrated by them; he tried without success to force them into the flesh of a chicken stripped of its                                      feathers; he in vain pressed them against the skin, they were displaced, but they could not enter. He, however, made a salamander bite the thigh of a chicken, after he had taken off a small part of the skin. He                                     made salamanders newly caught, bite also the tongue and lips of a dog, as well as the tongue of a turkey, but none of these animals received the least injury. Mr. DeMaupertuis afterwards made a dog and a                                     turkey swallow salamanders whole, or cut  into pieces, and yet neither of them appeared to be sensible of the least uneasiness."

                                                                                                                             (THE COUNT DE LA CEPEDE. "NATURAL HISTORY OF THE LAND SALAMANDER", P.21)

 

As well as live plucking a chicken for the purposes of animal experimentation, it is also suggested that testers of the time had somewhat inexhaustible supplies of the animal, however difficult to find they may have been reported to be. Certainly, it was seen as completely logical to test whether or not a dog could consume a salamander by feeding it to the dog unnaturally, after having attempted to have the salamander bite a dog’s lips and tongue, potentially even prompting the consumption of the creature outside of the dog’s diet (for further information, see Dogs). The necessity, or even prompting, of this ‘research’ into salamander consumption is uncertain.

 

Live dissection conducted on salamanders proved that they possess the ability to regrow severed limbs, over a long period of time. This ability is known to work for their tails, legs, and even jaws, and all sub-functions therein implied (toes, teeth). This healing is so exact as to replace nerves, muscles, glands, blood vessels, and even lost bone. The replacement appendages appear in no way inferior to their predecessors, though there is some discrepancy in the colour of the newly grown bones. This ability has seemingly no limit, with salamanders of any age, and any habitation, having been observed to regenerate the same limbs over three or four times. (An Extract from A SURVEY of the the WISDOM of GOD in the CREATION, 88). It is implied that this knowledge has come from the extensive testing of these animals, physically maiming the test salamanders in order to observe the limitations of this unusual power. The noticing of the difference in bone colour, as well as in regrowth of nerves, muscles, glands, and teeth, imply repeated tests and further dissections after the creatures had regrown their severed body parts.

 

Though throwing live salamanders into fire pits in order to ascertain whether their legendary fire-retardancy is based on a real invincibility (see ‘Natural History of the Land Salamander’ p. 21, below), the basis for the further testing, forcing “grey lizards to swallow the milk proceeding from the salamander” (21) (the lizards that ingested the salamander milk died almost immediately), only raises questions. The implication of this seems to be that much scientific experimentation within the eighteenth century was conducted not out of a frantic search for answers, but general curiosity, and certainly without a concern for the well-being of the animals in question; a total disregard is, in fact, more readily implied. 

 

"...it immediately became hard. It is needless to say, that this milk is not sufficiently abundant to extinguish even the smallest fire."

(NATURAL HISTORY OF THE LAND SALAMANDER - The Count de la Cepede, The Literary Magazine and British Review, January 1789 21) 

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Cast it into the Fire

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It was long reported that salamanders, perhaps on account of their striking coldness, or perhaps based on their resemblance and confusion with dragons, possessed an immunity and and affinity for fire, surviving and dwelling within it, feeding from it, and being reportedly able to extinguish it, whatever the size of the blaze (or, indeed, the salamander). Though these tales do all appear contradictory, a salamander being surely unable to live in fire if it naturally extinguishes it, the general consensus, at least, appears to agree that salamanders, if doused in flames, would emerge unscathed.

 

It has been documented severally that, on account of this peculiar immunity to fire, and inexplicably overcoming their supposed rarity, scientists, researchers, or people otherwise seeking morbid entertainment, have taken it upon themselves to investigate this particular myth by physically throwing live salamanders into fires. Matthias Tilingius gives one such account, describing himself, upon happening across a salamander whilst herborising, as "pleased to have an opportunity of trying whether this insect could effectually resist the heat of fire". Wasting no time, "as soon as [he] came home, [he] threw it accordingly into the fire" (5). Such is the renown of this rumour of a salamander possessing such cold that they are able to dwell in, feed on, and even extinguish, conflagrations of any size, that Tilingius considered it regular to immediately toss it into his fireplace upon returning home, only to see it "reduced to ashes" moments later. Knowing of the suggestion that salamanders can survive regularly in a fire for an extended period of time provided the fire is unfed, only to then perish if the fire is supported by bellows, additional fuelling, or other means, Tilingius proceeded to repeat this experiment a number of times, in the presence of "some learned men", finding the subsequent animals to perish just as quickly, though their bodies remained for some time, their milky secretion serving to prevent their bodies' total immediate consumption.

 

 

Figure 3: Observations on the SALAMANDER, by MATTHIAS TILINGIUS, a Member of the Academy of the CURIOUS in Germany. 1762. Universal magazine of knowledge and pleasure, June 1747-Dec.1803, 31(212), pp. 5

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 Here Be Salamanders

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"...among all classes of animals, there is perhaps none which has given rise to more fables than that of lizards" (18) notes the Count de la Cepede, referring to salamanders. Though to refer to salamanders as lizards is factually false, despite their obvious resemblance, as lizards are necessarily reptiles and salamanders are amphibious, certainly the Count’s note here rings true for salamanders just as much as for any actual lizard. The 18th century theory behind the origin for the rumours surrounding the species suggests that the name ‘salamander’ predates the actual discovery of the salamander – or, at least, the knowing and fixed attribution of it to a single form of creature. Certainly, the word goes back to the Ancient Greek ‘salamandra’, and even this is not known to be necessarily the origin, so the term has been in circulation for centuries; Erasmus Darwin notes that it is probable that the term was, along with ‘Gnome’, ‘Sylph’, and ‘Nymph’, originally the name for a hieroglyphic figure to represent one of the four classical elements (VII). Quite why the salamander in particular was chosen to bear the name is unclear, but it is likely something to do with how their consistently reported coldness might suggest that they could survive a considerable amount of time within fire, as well as their lizard-like appearance.

 

The appearance of the salamander has, equally, never been quite clearly understood, however: ‘salamanders’ have been depicted as creatures of all breeds and classifications, sometimes with the “head of a sheep”, sometimes “of a serpent”, and with skins varying from scaled to oily and moist. It is likely that the varying of these descriptions come from various confusions within translation, the name itself being so old, as well as on account of different animals being given the term – one may easily refer to Figure 2’s lizard as a ‘salamander’ with rough, scaly skin, whilst Figure 1’s ‘salamander’ is vastly different, but on account of their other distinct similarities, still believe they are referring to the same animal.

 

Figure 4 - A 'Salamander-shaped' Sled

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It is amusing, all the same, to observe how eighteenth-century documents debate the existence of the salamander, equating it with the unicorn and the phoenix as creatures purely of myth and legend, without clarification that they mean salamanders in the strictly mythical sense. As mentioned, just what the ‘mythical salamander’ supposedly was is unclear, the only certain consistency being that it is always representative of the element of fire. Aside from this, however, accounts differ – there are religious references to the salamander as an evil spirit representing Hell (Count de Gabalis), whereas others see it as a mortal creature “of the reptile kind” with a dangerous bite (On the Emigration of SWALLOWS, and the Existence of UNICORNS and SALAMANDERS. 1779) and, not infrequently, the ability to breathe fire (see Figure 5). Interestingly, the dragon and the salamander were still clearly understood to be different creatures of myth, despite the similarities within certain descriptions. In addition to this, it was also fundamentally concluded that there “is no such animal existing” (518). 

 

Figure 5 - A Copper Engraving of a Salamander Breathing Fire

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The All-Terrain Amphibian

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Salamanders make appearances frequently throughout poetry of the eighteenth century as symbols of courage and overcoming adversity, though there are signs throughout the century of their diminishing popularity in this regard. Understood to be just as comfortable in land, water, and fire, the salamander presented the perfect metaphor for the indestructible, despite its apparent harmlessness. ‘The British Salamanders’, for instance, equates unstoppable British troops with the creatures – “What mortal can such usage brook? // The Dons, and all around them, /// The garrison for Devils took, // But Salamanders found them.” (390) – and ‘Amasia, or, The works of the Muses. A collection of poems’ also shows frequent references made to salamanders in a positive, bolstering manner (of both the men and, indeed, of salamanders). In ‘The Salamander’, Swift straightforwardly explains the relationship, writing “To paint a Hero, we enquire // For something that will conquer Fire” (373), the salamander readily fitting this description (reportedly). Swift’s poem also, however, gives reference to Pliny having defined salamanders in the way that they are perceived, referring to them as “This reptil of the Serpent kind” (374), which is, of course, a faulty description of the actual amphibian. Additionally, throughout Swift’s poem, Swift hints at the potential humour of referring to heroes as salamanders in this way, perhaps signifying the beginning of a shift away from viewing salamanders as creatures heroes strive to replicate. Swift suggests calling someone a salamander if looking for a term “grander” than others in use, the implied irony suggesting that the idea is somewhat laughable, leaving “Pliny” to “prove” his point, and himself to be “judg’d by standers-by” (374).

 

 

                                        “SO when the War has rais’d a Storm

 

                                        I’ve seen a Snake in human Form,

 

                                        All stain’d with Infamy and Vice,

 

                                        Leap from the Dunghill in a trice,

 

                                        Burnish and make a gaudy show,

 

                                        Become a General, Peer and Beau,

 

                                        Till Peace hath made the Sky Serene,

 

                                        Then shrink into it’s Hole again.

 

 

                                                       All this we grant – why, then look yonder,

 

                                                       Sure they must be a Salamander!”

 

Swift, Jonathan, 1667-1745. Miscellanies In Prose And Verse, 1711. [1st ed. reprinted]. Menston: Scolar Press, 1972 (375)

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This image much better acknowledges the truth of the salamander – possessing a “gaudy” reputation, but ultimately returning to its hole and proving to be nothing more than a small creature with a big name. If one is to take the poem in this way, the soldier therein being accused of bragging and unwelcome arrogance, then one may infer that the salamander’s image was beginning to be seen as less heroic and legendary, and more honest, docile, and plain. 

 

 

 

Links to Other Pages

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Quackery

Dogs

For these links in context, see above.

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 Primary Sources

 

"An Extract from A SURVEY of the the WISDOM of GOD in the CREATION." Arminian Magazine consisting of extracts and original treatises on universal redemption, Jan.1778-Dec.1797 7 (1784): 87-91. ProQuest. 22 Mar. 2019 - Scientific journal that details the results certain experiments had on salamanders

 

"Observations on the SALAMANDER, by MATTHIAS TILINGIUS, a Member of the Academy of the CURIOUS in Germany." Universal magazine of knowledge and pleasure, June 1747-Dec.1803 31.212 (1762): 5-6. ProQuest. 25 Mar. 2019. . Available:

https://search.proquest.com/britishperiodicals/docview/6265229/846BFB71153E4688PQ/4?accountid=14888 - The account of a 'curious' man finding live salamanders and hurling them into lit fireplaces in the name of scientific discovery. Sheds light, and some well deserved flawed humanity, on the the idea of the untouchable intellectuals of old

 

"On the Emigration of SWALLOWS, and the Existence of UNICORNS and SALAMANDERS." Weekly Miscellany : or, Instructive entertainer, Oct.4, 1773-Dec.30, 1782 11.283 (1779): 516-9. ProQuest. 25 Mar. 2019 . Available:

https://search.proquest.com/britishperiodicals/docview/4230702/846BFB71153E4688PQ/7?accountid=14888 - Journal discussing the existence and cultural impact of certain mythological creatures 

 

"THE BRITISH SALAMANDERS." The Gentleman's Magazine: and historical chronicle, Jan.1736-Dec.1833 52 (1782): 590. ProQuest. 25 Mar. 2019 . Available:

https://search.proquest.com/britishperiodicals/docview/8384657/846BFB71153E4688PQ/5?accountid=14888 - Eighteenth century poem comparing British soldiers to salamanders, illustrating the idea of salamanders as metaphors

 

Croker, Temple Henry, Thomas Williams, and Samuel Clark. The complete dictionary of arts and sciences, in which the whole circle of human learning is explained, and the difficulties attending the acquisition of every art ... are removed ... London: Printed for the authors, and sold by J. Wilson & J. Fell, 1767. - Exactly as described, an incredibly vast encyclopedia of all things, with a decently detailed few-line description of salamanders

Darwin, Erasmus. The botanic garden ; a poem, etc. [By Erasmus Darwin, the Elder.] (Part I. The second edition.-Part II. The third edition.). London: J. Johnson, 1791. - Document wherein an apparent scientist, A, details the breeding habits of salamanders, and B, explains the hieroglyphic significance of the animal

Hopkins, John. Amasia, or, the works of the muses a collection of poems. [Place of publication not identified]: Proquest, Eebo Editions, 2010. - A collection of poems, including several utilising the salamander as a metaphor

Swift, Jonathan, 1667-1745. Miscellanies In Prose And Verse, 1711. [1st ed. reprinted]. Menston: Scolar Press, 1972 - Jonathan Swift's poem 'The Salamander', specifically

 

 THE COUNT DE LA CEPEDE. "NATURAL HISTORY OF THE LAND SALAMANDER". The Literary Magazine and British Review, 1789: 18-22. Online. Internet. 25 Mar. 2019. . Available: https://search.proquest.com/britishperiodicals/docview/6031064/846BFB71153E4688PQ/2?accountid=14888. - Detailed scientific journal on the salamander, detailing tests and experiments conducted upon several instances of the animal in question

 

 

Villars.  The count de Gabalis: being a diverting history of the rosicrucian doctrine of spirits, viz. Sylphs, salamanders, gnomes, and dm̆ons: shewing their various influence upon human bodies. [electronic resource] : Done from the Paris edition. To which is prefix'd, Monsieur Bayle's account of this work: and of the sect of the rosicrucians  Printed for B. Lintott and E. Curll, in Fleet-Street London  1714 - Religious view on many things, including salamander

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Images:

 

Figure 1: naar ontwerp van: Utamaro, Kitagawa, prentmaker: anoniem, uitgever: Tsutaya Juzaburo (Koshodo). Slang en salamander. 1788 -  1788. Artstor, 0-library-artstor-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/asset/AWSS35953_35953_23272619

 

Figure 2: toegeschreven aan tekenaar: Gordon, Robert Jacob. Salamander uit Namaqualand (Agama atra). 1777-10 -  1786-03. Artstor, 0-library-artstor-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/asset/AWSS35953_35953_23494042

 

Figure 3: Observations on the SALAMANDER, by MATTHIAS TILINGIUS, a Member of the Academy of the CURIOUS in Germany. 1762. Universal magazine of knowledge and pleasure, June 1747-Dec.1803, 31(212), pp. 5

 

Figure 4: Salamander-shaped Sled (Traîneau en forme de salamandre). 18th century. Artstor, 0-library-artstor-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/asset/AWSS35953_35953_30947233

 

Figure 5: Engraving (copper), figs.58,59,60,61.. 1718. Artstor, 0-library-artstor-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/asset/AWSS35953_35953_31702476