Pliny the Elder [1st century CE] (Natural History, Book 10, 86; 11, 116): [Book 10, 86] For a number of animals spring from some hidden and secret source, even in the quadruped class, for instance salamanders, a creature shaped like a lizard, covered with spots, never appearing except in great rains and disappearing in fine weather. It is so chilly that it puts out fire by its contact, in the same way as ice does. It vomits from its mouth a milky slaver, one touch of which on any part of the human body causes all the hair to drop off, and the portion touched changes its color and breaks out in a tetter [a skin disease]. [Book 11, 116] ...water or wine when a salamander has died in it is fatal, and so is even drinking from a vessel out of which one has drunk. - [Rackham translation]

Aelianus [170-230 CE] (On the Characteristics of Animals, Book 2, chapter 31): The Salamander is not indeed one of those fire-born creatures like the so-called 'Fire-flies' [glow-worm], yet it is as bold as they and encounters the flame and is eager to fight it like an enemy. And the proof of this is as follows. Its haunts are among artisans and craftsmen who work at the forge. Now so long as their fire is at full blast and they have it to help their craft and to share their skill, they pay not the smallest attention to this animal. When however the fire goes out or languishes and the bellows blow in vain, then at once they know full well that the aforesaid creature is working against them. Accordingly they track it down and exact vengeance; and then the fire is lit, is easily coaxed up, and does not go out, provided it is kept fed with the usual material. - [Scholfield translation]

Augustine [5th century CE] (City of God, Book 21, chapter 4): If the salamander lives in fire, as naturalists have recorded, this is a sufficiently convincing example that everything which burns is not consumed, as the souls in hell are not.

Isidore of Seville [7th century CE] (Etymologies, Book 12, 4:36): The salamander [salamandra] is so named because it prevails against fire. Of all the venomous creatures its force is the greatest; the others kill people one at a time, but the salamander can slay many people at once – for if it should creep in among the trees, it injects its venom into all the fruit, and so it kills whoever eats the fruit. Again, if it falls into a well, the force of its venom kills whoever drinks from it. This animal fights back against fire; it alone of all the animals will extinguish fire, for it can live in the midst of flames without feeling pain or being consumed – not only because it is not burned but also because it extinguishes the fire. - [Barney, Lewis, et. al. translation]

Letter of Prester John [ca. 1165-1170 CE] (paragraph 42-43): In certain other provinces near the torrid zone there are serpents who in our language are called salamanders. Those serpents are only able to live in fire, and they produce a certain little membrane around them, just as other worms do, which makes silk. This little membrane is carefully fashioned by the ladies of our palace, and from this we have garments and cloths for the full use of our excellency. Those cloths are washed only in a strong fire. - [Michael Uebel, Translation of Original Latin Letter of Prester John]

Thomas of Cantimpré [circa 1200-1272 CE] (Liber de natura rerum, Serpents 8.29; Worms 9.40): [Thomas used many sources for his description of the salamander, but in many cases those sources are not describing the salamander, but the chameleon or some other lizard. He also calls the salamander both a serpent and a worm. Thomas's account of the salamander is therefore very confused and confusing.] [Serpents 8.29] Salamander, as Jacobus says, is called a stellio in Greek. It is a large, four-footed animal [Jacobus is describing the chameleon], hideous in appearance and formidable to all animals. For it remains unharmed in fire and is is not consumed, however strong the fire may be. In the mountains of Sicily, and in parts of the world where there is perpetual fire, the salamander is born and lives. A fire is then made by men who want to catch it, and the fire is continued in a long line from a mountain. Then the salamander, seeing the brightness of the fire, is delighted and enters the fire and follows it until the end, while the fire is extinguished behind it, and thus, before it returns to the mountain, it is captured by the hunters. Some say that it lives only in the fire which, of course, most authors contradict in different places and writings. Some call this 'chameleon', that is, 'the lion of the earth', as Pliny and Adelinus say [this statement appears to have caused Thomas to equate the salamander with the chameleon]. Solinus: It is on all fours, and has a face like a lizard [Solinus (40.21) is describing the chameleon], or as Aristotle says, it has a face between the face of a pig and the face of an ape [Aristotle (2, 7.1-5) is describing the chameleon]. Pliny: It has straight legs and they are longer behind, and are connected to its belly; it has a long and tortuous tail, thinning at the end; its claws are hooked; the body has a rough skin, such as is found in crocodiles [Pliny (8, 51) is describing the chameleon]. Isidore: It has a kind of pale wool, from which the strands cannot be burned. The animal itself, as Augustine and Andelmus and Isidore say, lives in the fire and not only does not burn, but also extinguishes the fire. Its gait is sluggish, as Solinus says, like the movement of a tortoise. Its eyes are drawn back into a hollow recess, and never close [Solinus (40.21) is describing the chameleon]. Pliny says that its eyes are full of excitement. It is large in body size, but inside it is empty of any signs of nourishment. Its liver is on the left side, and this is against all animals. In fact, its internal organs differ greatly from those of other animals. Its mouth is never closed, but it does not use it in the service of food or drink, because it lives only by a draft of dew or air [Pliny (8, 51) is describing the chameleon]. As Aristotle says, it is very thin because it has little blood; and therefore it is also a fearful animal, because the heat in it is lessened, which is an incentive to boldness. The reason for the fear of this animal is that its color is varied and changeable from moment to moment, so that to whatever object it attaches itself, the cause becomes heat for it [Aristotle (2, 7.1-5) is describing the chameleon]. As Ambrose says, there are two colors which they cannot show: white and red [Ambrose is describing the chameleon]. Its body is almost without flesh, and only a little blood is detected in its heart. It is without a spleen. It is hidden in the winter and appears in the spring [From Solinus (40.21) on the chameleon]. It courage is unstoppable, by which, when it is slain, it destroys its conqueror by being slain: for if conqueror eats even a little of it, it will die at once; but Nature stretches out her hand to heal: for when the conqueror understands that it is afflicted, it takes a laurel leaf and recovers its health [Solinus (40.24) says this of the fight between the chameleon and the raven]. There is a great abundance of these beasts in Asia, says Solinus [Solinus (40.21) is describing the chameleon]. The salamander lays eggs in the manner of chickens and produces offspring from them. Accordingly it must be noted that as Pliny says, salamanders have neither male nor female, but they all give birth [Pliny (8, 51) is describing the chameleon]. As the Liber Kyrannidarum says, the heart of a salamander extinguishes most effectually the fire of fever and lust, and this carried near the knees. It is also said that Pope Alexander had a garment made of the wool of this animal, which, when it sometimes had to be washed for cleanliness, was washed with no water but was thrown into the fire, and not burned by the fire. I also saw a girdle woven from the wool of this animal which as a test of truth, I threw into the fire with my own hand, and after a long space of time I took the girdle like a red-hot iron from the fire, and after it had cooled for an hour, I took it in my hand, and I could not find that even one hair had been consumed. Of the salamander, Andelmus, in its book Enigmata, speaking in the person of the salamander: Living in the midst of the fire, I do not feel the flames, but the damage I do I beg to make fun of. I do not burn with a crackling rattle, nor do I burn with sparkling embers, but I warm myself with a blazing flame and dew. [Worms 9.40] [Thomas describes the stelle worm as though it is the salamander, but with other aspects. It is not certain that the salamander is the intended animal.] A salamander has the form of a worm [stelle figura vermis], as Pliny says [Pliny does not say that it is a worm, but most of the rest of what follows is from Pliny (10, 86)], which shines at night like a star. It never appears except in heavy rains and in fine weather it hides. There is such cold in this animal, that when it touches a fire, it extinguishes like ice does. It vomits a milky substance from its mouth, and if it touches human skin it causes all of the hair to fall out, and the touched skin changes color to green. These worms do not produce any offspring, and in these there is neither male nor female. - [Badke translation/paraphrase]

Albertus Magnus [ca. 1200-1280 CE] (De animalibus, Book 25, 46): Salamander is a serpent in the sense that it bears some similarity to a snake. What the Greeks call “salamandra,” we now call "stellio" [a name also used for the newt]. The ancient writers entertained a wide variety of notions about this animal. Some, including Pliny and Solinus, say the salamander is the same as the chameleon, i.e. the “earth lion”. In actuality it is an oviparous quadruped which has the shape of a lizard but a face composed from the face of a pig and an ape. Pliny states that it has long, straight hindlegs attached to its belly, an elongated flexible tail that tapers to a thin end, claws that hook in a delicate arch, a roughened body and skin like a crocodile. Some claim the salamander has a kind of wool that resists combustion in fire because the flames cannot enter its pores [probably asbestos]. Hawever, what has been presented to me as purported "salamander’s wool" has furned out on close examination not even to be of animal origin. Some claim this fleecy substance is the down of a certain plant, but I have not been able to corroborate this from personal experience. As a matter of fact, I have judged it to be iron floss [lanugo ferri]. By way of explanation, wherever large masses of iron are smelted, the molten metal sometimes forms bubbles which burst and release a blast of fiery vapor. If this smoke is trapped on a piece of cloth, or even by hand, or if it adheres by itself to the roof of the smelting furnace, there accumulates a layer of brown or sometimes whitish substance that looks like wool. This iron floss, and any article made from it, will not burn in fire; but itinerant peddlers call it "salamander’s wool". Following the lead of the philosopher Jorach, many writers say this animal is able to live in fire, but this is completely false. A possible exception to this generalization is a statement made by Galen in his book On Complexions, viz., that if a salamander is exposed to a weak flame for a short period of time, the fire may have no deleterious effect, but if it is kept near the flame for a longer time, it burns up.! Indeed, even Jorach admits that a salamander can extinguish a flame of mediocre intensity; but that is not to say the animal actually spends its life immersed in fire. According to Aristotle, it is the coldest animal with exceptionally thick skin and, consequently, fire cannot penetrate its pores. However, if the animal has stayed in the fire for any length of time, the heat of the flame gradually opens its pores and causes it to be incinerated. Thus, the animal’s coldness is of sufficient intensity to extinguish a fire by its contrary quality, as long as the flame is small and not overpowering. I have experimented with this phenomenon under similar circumstances, when I placed a cold-blooded spider of thick skin on a red-hot iron grill; the spider lay there motionless for some time before it began to quiver and feel the heat of the burning plate. In another instance I held a tiny lighted taper close to a large spider that extinguished the flame, as if it were snuffed out. Because of its cold nature this animal walks in a sluggish manner, not unlike the movement of a turtle. Its eyes which are never closed are extremely deep set, as if they were withdrawn inward into the hollows of the optic cavities. Pliny claims that its eyes are able to turn around in complete revolutions. Though it is a large enough animal, its body has a vacuous structure with a loose-fitting skin and overly lean substance due to its cold and melancholic constitution. They say that, contrary to all other animals, the salamander’s liver is on the left side of the body. Moreover, it has no spleen because all of its black bile is distributed through the body. Compared to other animals, it has a great variation in its internal organs. The gaping aperture of its mouth is never closed, though it does not use this for eating food or imbibing drink; rather, it sucks into itself some sort of moisture and, consequently, nothing is found in its intestines. But the claim that it lives on air or dew is patently false. It has no blood save a very little around its heart; and, therefore, it is an exceptionally timid animal. Some writers allege that it turns every color to which it is exposed, except for white and red [also said of the chameleon], but I doubt this is true. However, it is a fact that it belongs to the animals that hibernate in winter. Another story tells that when it takes sick, this animal regains its health by means of laurel leaves. This creature climbs trees and puts a blight on all of their fruit, from the eating of which many people die. It lays eggs in the fashion of hens and lizards. This class of animal abounds in Asia. - [Scanlan]

Guillaume le Clerc [ca. 1210 CE] (Bestiaire, Chapter 34): The salamander is a beast, / Which in tail and in head / And in body is like a lizard. / It has no fear that any fire burn it, / For of fire, it does not fear the heat. / Many diverse colours it has. / If in fire by chance it gets / The fire it will put out straightway; / No matter how big a blaze there is, / It is all put out at once. / It carries poison of such strength / That it has struck down a man at once, / And it would do great damage / If it climbed up an apple tree. / The apples it so poisons that / Whoever eats them, he is done for. / And if it fall into a great well / It will poison all the water, / So that none can drink it and survive; / So powerful is its venom. - [Druce translation]

Bartholomaeus Anglicus [13th century CE] (Liber de proprietatibus rerum, Book18.9; 18.91): [Book 18.9] And some manner serpents dwell in the fire, as it fareth of the Salamandra, yt Isidore and Plinius account among venimous beastes. The Salamandra hath that name, as Isidore saith, libro. 12. for he is strong & mightie against burning: & among all venimous beasts, his might is the most of venime. For other venimous beasts n•yeth one and one, & this noyeth and slayeth many at once. For if he créepe on a trée, he infecteth all ye apples, and slayeth them that eate therof, & if he falleth into a pit, he slayeth all that drinke of the water. By this venim this beast is contrary to burning, and among beasts, onely this beast quencheth fire, & lieth in the burning fire wtout consumption & wasting, and also with smarting & ach, and burneth not in fire, but abateth and swageth the burning thereof, as Isidore sayth there. And Plinius accordeth therewith at all points, libro. 10. cap. 47. and saith, that Salamandra is like to an Ewte in shape, & is never more séene but in much raine, for he falleth in faire wether. His touch is so colde that it quencheth fire, as Ise doth: and casteth out of his mouth white matter, with touching wherof mans body leeseth haire, & what is touched therewith, chaungeth and tourneth into most foulest coulour. [Book 18.91] Salamandra, as Isidore sayth, libr. 10. cap. 67. is like to the Ewt in shape, & in never séene but in great raine, & fayleth in faire wether, and his song is crieng: and he quencheth the fire that hée toucheth, as Ise doth, & water frore: and out of his mouth commeth white matter, & if that matter touch a mans body, the haire shall fall, & what it toucheth, is corrupt and infected, and tourneth into foule coulour. Also Salamandra is a manner kind of an Ewt or of a Lisard, and is a pestilent beast, most venimous. For as Plinius sayeth, libro. 29. cap. 4. Salamandra infecteth fruit of Trées, and corrupteth water, so that he that eateth or drinketh thereof, is slayne anone. And if his spittle touch the foot, it infecteth and corrupteth all the mans body, and though he be so venimous, yet some beasts eate him in stéed of meate. Of all beasts, onely the Salamandra liveth in fire, as he saith, & quencheth the fire. And a certain kind of Salamandra hath rough skinne and hairy, as the skin of the sea Sele, of the which skinne bée sometime girdles made to the use of kings: The which girdles when they be full olde be throwne into the fire harmelesse and without went purged, and as it were renued: and of that skinne be tongues & bonds made in lampes & in Lanternes, that be never corrupt with burning of fire. Looke before in A. de Anguium diversitate, & there thou shalt finde of this worme. - [Batman]