Salamander

A salamander has the torso of a man atop the body of a great snake. It has a thick hide. It is poisonous if eaten.

For hundreds of years, many people believed that salamanders were magical. In England in the Middle Ages, people thought that fire created salamanders. When they set fire to damp logs, dozens of the slimy creatures scurried out. The word salamander, in fact, comes from a Greek word meaning "fire animal". Salamanders, by Cherie Winner