THE HALLOWEEN SERIES - EYE OF NEWT

A typical witch’s recipe calls for eye of newt.  The N.E.W.T. in the Harry Potter series stands for “Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test”.  So what is a newt?  Newts are amphibians, related to salamanders.  These animals have wonderful characteristics that are tidbit worthy.  They have slimy, snot-covered skin that they can use to “breathe”.  Young have feathery, external gills that make them look like ruffley dragons if you really use your imagination.  Once they mature a bit, they will undergo metamorphosis to form legs, absorb their external gills, and form lungs.  Then they move to land (not all species do this).  While on land, they are “efts”.  Once they reach adulthood they will return to water.

Many newts secrete toxins in their skin snot.  But it is really only dangerous if you eat it (those newt wranglers out there needn’t worry about their hands rotting off).  So perhaps that which’s brew should really be “snot of newt”!