BUFO VULGARIS. 419 



The following species are found in British India : — 



* Crown of the head without elevated bony ridges. 



No fold of the skin along the tarsus ; lower part of the parotoid with a 



blackish band B. vulgaris, p. 419. 



A fold of the skin along the tarsus ; a large gland on the upper side of 



the calf B. calamita, p. 420. 



Parotoid very narrow and elongate B. kelaartii, p. 421. 



** Crown of the head with a lateral bony ridge. 



Parotoid much smaller than, and confluent with, the lateral ridge, which 



is obtuse B. galeatus, p. 421. 



Parotoid rather large, kidney-shaped ; no fold of the skin along the 



tarsus B. melanostictus , p. 422. 



Parotoid small, subtriangular ; a fold of the skin along the tarsus . . . B. asper, p. 423. 



BuFO VULGARIS. The Comtnon European Toad. 



Rana bufo, L. Syst. Nat. i. p. 354. Roesel, p. 85. tabs. 20 & 21. 



Bufo ^Tilgaris, Laur. Syn. Rept. pp. 28, 125. Eichw. Faun. Casp.-Cauc. p. 127. tab. 31. Dum. 4 

 Bibr. viii. p. 670. Giinth. Batr. Sal. p. 55. 



cinereus, Schneid. Hist. Amph. p. 185. 



palmarum, Cuv. Regne Anim. 



Asiatic varieties : — 



Bufo vulgaris japonicus, Schleg. Faun. Japon. Rept. p. 106. taf. 2. figs. 5 & 6. 



gargarizans. Cantor, Ann. (Sf Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, ix. p. 483. 



griseus, Hallow. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1860, p. 506. 



Crown of the head quite flat, without elevated bony ridges ; a groove between the eye and 

 the parotoid. Parotoids oblong, elliptical, or ovoid, of moderate size, not longer than the 

 head. Tympanum small, indistinct. Upper parts with numerous tubercles, which are some- 

 times horny at the top. Legs short, the length of the hind limb being not much more than 

 that of the body. Soles with, numerous small tubercles ; metatarsus with two prominences, 

 the inner of which is the larger ; tarsus without fold. Toes half-webbed. Brownish above, 

 uniform or marbled with darker ; belly yellowish, without or with blackish spots, which 

 are sometimes confluent, forming a network of blackish streaks. Chinese specimens with a 

 more or less distinct light interocular band. A blackish band along the lower part of the 

 parotoid. 



The greater part of the Asiatic specimens which I have had an opportunity of examining 

 are from difierent parts of China (Ningpo, Hongkong) and from the island of Chusan. The 

 latter may be considered as typical specimens of Bufo gargarizans, as they were sent by 

 Dr. Cantor to the Museum of the East India Company, whence they were transferred to the 

 British Museum. Nearly all these specimens may be distinguished from European examples, 

 as they have the tubercles of the body, the edge of the maxillaries, the superciliary margin, 

 and the surface of the parotoids covered with a thin brown horny layer, which I have never 

 observed in our European toad. The latter has also the tubercles of the back of a more 



3 H 2 



