 The association of the salamander with fire appeared first in Ancient Greece , where Pliny the Elder writes in his Natural History that " A salamander is so cold that it puts out fire on contact . It vomits from its mouth a milky liquid ; if this liquid touches any part of the human body it causes all the hair to fall off , and the skin to change color and break out in a rash . " The ability to put out fire is repeated by Saint Augustine in the fifth century and Isidore of Seville in the seventh century . 
