ALYTES. 165 



along each side of the body ; a more or less distinct 

 round gland behind the angle of the mouth. Throat, 

 belly, and lower surface of thighs, or belly and pubic 

 region granulate ; a strong gular fold separating the 

 throat from the breast. 



Greyish or pale brown above, speckled with darker 

 or with small greyish-olive or greenish spots, some- 

 times with red or reddish centres ; an ill-defined 

 dark canthal streak sometimes present ; a light 

 band across the anterior half of the interocular 

 space, and a triangular, cordiform, or A-shaped 

 light marking between the shoulders are often dis- 

 tinguishable, and between these two light markings a 

 dark triangle or X ; the glands of the lateral series 

 often orange or red. Lower parts dirty white or 

 greyish, with the granules of a pure white; limbs 

 carneous ; throat and breast often speckled with grey, 

 especially on the sides. Iris pale golden, rarely 

 silvery, veined with black. 



Male difficult to distinguish from the female. The 

 body is, however, somewhat shorter, and the fore 

 limbs are a little stronger. 



Geographical Variations. — This species varies very 

 little in France, Germany, and Switzerland. But the 

 specimens from the Spanish Peninsula show less 

 uniformity; the more divergent may be distinguished 

 at a glance, and have been named var. hoscae, 

 Lataste. The skin is usually smoother, the parotoid 

 glands are smaller, and the dorsal spots are generally 

 larger and better defined, sometimes forming mar- 

 blings ; these characters combine to produce a physi- 

 ognomy somewhat suggestive of a young Pelobates 

 cultripes. I am, however, unable to confirm the abso- 

 lute constancy of the various structural differences by 

 which this variety is to be distinguished from the 

 typical form ; measurements of the skull and vertebral 

 column of some Rhenish and Spanish specimens show 

 me that the proportions may, exceptionally, be the 

 same. 



