CVSTIGNATHINAE 2 I 5 



large, measuring 4-5 mm. in diameter. Dr. Gundlach, a resident 

 in Porto Eico, was one day, in the month of May, attracted by 

 sounds like those of a young bird, and found three males and 

 one female of this species sitting between two large leaves of an 

 orange-tree. He put them all into a glass vessel and soon saw 

 a pair in embrace. The female laid about twenty -five pale 

 straw-coloured eggs. The embryo develops neither gills nor 

 gill-openings, but a large well-vascularised tail, by means of 

 which, being immersed in the watery fluid contained within the 

 egg, it seems to breathe. After twenty-one days the tadpole, 

 having used up all the available yolk and fluid, and most of its 

 own tail, bursts the egg-shell and hops away as a little frog of 

 5 mm. in length, but still with a stumpy white tail, which is 

 quite absorbed within the same day. 



This species has several times made its appearance in the 

 tropical houses of Kew Gardens. It seems to have bred and 

 vanished again. 1 



Calyptocephalus is remarkable for the dermal ossification of 

 the cranium, which has assumed the greatest possible extent. 

 It affords a curious parallelism to Triprion and other Hylidae, 

 which are likewise Central American forms. Only two species 

 are known ; C. gayi of Chili, and C. testudiniceps of Panama. 

 They are large, thoroughly aquatic creatures, 5 to 6 inches in 

 length, with huge heads. The tadpoles grow to an enormous 

 size. One specimen of C. gayi in the National Collection is 

 more than 6 inches in length, the tail taking up more than half 

 of the total : the spiracle lies on the left side, the vent on the 

 right, and the hind-limbs are still half enveloped in a kind of 

 fold of the skin. 



Ceratoplirys is a genus of some ten toad-like species, living in 

 South America, from Guiana to Argentina. The generic name 

 alludes to the peculiar modification of the eyelid, which in most 

 species is developed into a triangular, upright, but flexible 

 appendage. The head, in conformity with the huge mouth, is very 

 large. The tympanum is rather indistinct, sometimes quite 

 hidden. Several of the species have a large dorsal shield, which 

 is produced by a thick ossification of the cutis, but is not fused 

 with any of the vertebral processes. The male has a vocal sac. 

 ('. 'Joi-sata s. boiei of equatorial Brazil is a monster toad, reaching 

 1 See Giinther, Xaturr, Hi. 189"), p. 643. 



