SALADO EIVER SALAMANDER 557 Tedious negotiations followed, but on Sept. 2 a three years' truce was concluded. The in- cessant toils of the last few years had impaired the health of Saladin, and he died of a bilious fever after an illness of 12 days. SALADO RIVER. See ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, vol. i., p. 688. SALAMANCA. I. A W. province of Spain, in Leon, bordering on Portugal and the provinces of Zamora, Valladolid, Avila, and Caceres; area, 4,940 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870 estimated at 280,870. It is hilly in the north and moun- tainous in the south. The chief rivers are the Tormes, Yeltes, and Agueda, tributaries of the Douro, which forms part of the N. W. boun- dary line, and the Alagon, an affluent of the Tagus. Gold occurs in the Agueda and the Alagon ; iron, copper, and lead are found, but few mines are now in operation; rock crys- tal and saltpetre are abundant; and there are numerous thermal springs. The soil is very fertile, and grain and fruits are plenti- ful ; but much the larger part of the country is divided between forest and pasturage, and many animals are reared. The wines and oils of Salamanca are justly esteemed ; but the once flourishing manufactures of carpets, laces, and leathers have become insignificant. Be- sides the capital, the chief towns are Ciudad Rodrigo, Bejar, Pefiaranda, and Alba de Tor- mes. II. A city (anc. Salmantica), capital of the province, built on three hills, on the right bank of the Tormes, 110 m. W. N. W. of Ma- drid; pop. about 17,700. It is surrounded by ancient walls, and presents from without a quaint and picturesque appearance. The streets generally are very irregular ; but the numerous public squares are fine and spacious, especially the Plaza Mayor, one of the largest in the kingdom. This square is flanked on every side by a magnificent colonnaded arcade, the lower portion of which is for the most part occupied by shops. On the N. side is the city hall ; and the facades of the S. and "W. sides are embellished with busts of sovereigns and great men of Spain. As many as 20,000 spectators commonly attended the bull fights of which this square was the scene as late as 1863. The number and beauty of its public edifices have gained for Salamanca the appel- lation of Roma la Chica (little Rome). Fore- most among them is the cathedral, in the florid Gothic style, begun in 1513, after a plan of Juan Gil de Otaflon, and consecrated in 1560. Near it is the old cathedral, a massive struc- ture of Norman-French architecture, founded in 1102 by Ger6nimo, the confessor of the Cid. The bridge over the Tormes, with 27 arches, was partly built by the Romans, and finished under Philip IV. The university, founded about 1200, was one of the most celebrated in Europe, having sometimes upward of 10,000 students ; but it is now almost deserted. The chief libraries are those of the university and of the college of San Bartolom6. Woollens, leather, hats, and earthenware are manufac- tured. Salamanca was an ancient city of the Vettones. It was taken by Hannibal in 222 B. C. Under the Romans it was made a mili- tary station, and the remains of a road made by them and some monuments are still extant. It was captured and ravaged by the Moors, who were finally expelled from it in 1095. In the 12th century it was made a bishopric, and several councils were held here in the 14th and 15th. The battle of Salamanca, in which the French, after pillaging many of the public buildings and destroying 13 convents and 20 colleges, were defeated by Wellington, July 22, 1812, took place 4 m. S. E. of the city. SALAMANDER, the popular name of most of the batrachian reptiles with persistent tail (urodela) which lose the gills in the adult con- dition (caducibranchiates). The family of am- phiumida has been noticed under MENOPOMA. The family salamandrida has been divided into two groups, the aquatic and terrestrial, of which the former will be described under TEI- TON. Schneider reunited the water and land salamanders into a single genus salamandra, comprising the genera talamandra and triton of Laurenti. Prof. Baird (in the " Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences," vol. i., Phil- adelphia, 1850) makes no generic distinction between the aquatic and terrestrial species, though he subdivides talamandra into several genera established by Rafinesque, Tschudi, and others. The division into groups according to general habitat will be retained here, and the species now noticed will be those which be- long to the old genus salamandra (Laurenti). In this group the body is lizard-like, the limbs four, the maxillary and palate bones with mi- nute teeth, the tongue more or less pediculated and free; there is no sternum, the ribs are rudimentary, and the pelvis is suspended by ligaments; there are in the adults neither gills nor gill openings, and the lungs are well developed ; the eyes are prominent and fur- nished with lids; the skin is without scales, and has numerous warty glands which secrete an acrid viscid fluid ; the tail is generally cy- lindrical. They live on land in the adult state, and are found in the water only during the breeding season; they frequent damp places, and are found only in the northern hemi- sphere, in Europe, and especially in North America. The young, instead of being wholly developed in the water, in some are retained so long within the oviduct that they are born alive, having undergone a portion of their metamorphosis; the young live constantly in the water and breathe by external gills, which disappear with the gill openings when the respiration becomes pulmonary; the anterior limbs are developed earlier than the posterior, the former having four and the latter five toes. From large glands behind the eyes and on the body is secreted a yellow matter so abun- dantly and rapidly, that it gave rise to the popular belief, once extensively prevalent, that they possess the power of extinguishing and
