HYNOBIIDAE. 485 



yard in shade, and there is a large stone bowl inside the wooden fence. 

 This bowl is filled with water by occasional rains and in the fall by 

 dead leaves. Here I found a quantity of eggs with the mother. 



" Shakutakano in Ibaraki Prefecture is indeed a place of natural 

 beauty. Hill after hill of considerable height contrasts with valleys 

 winding far below, and a crystal stream echoes through the region. A 

 mile upstream, the valley becomes narrow and the water scanty, and 

 large rocks and trees here and there make the place dark. There is a 

 tree there which gives a queer uncomfortable odor, and there I found 

 many egg-masses, some of which were just out of the cloaca of the 

 mother, and the sack which contains them was wrinkled up instead of 

 stiffened by assimilated water. 



"The eggs hatch after 12-15 days. x\fter 15-16 days the larva 

 grows more lively and comes out from a corner of its shell, or some- 

 times it breaks the shell in the center. It is then about 15 mm. long. 

 On both sides of the cheeks it has double balancers, and triple ex- 

 ternal gills, but mouth and gill slits do not open at this stage. There 

 is a stump which later becomes the front leg. The tail is about half as 

 long as head and body, and has a fin above and below, the upper fin 

 reaching the middle of the body. It is yellowish brown above and 

 yellow below. There are brown spots. It holds on to things by means 

 of the balancers. About ten days after hatching the front legs begin- 

 to grow, at first oar-shaped, the middle part gradually increasing. It 

 takes fourteen days before the hind legs begin to develop. Next, 

 mouth and gill slits open, and the gills grow large and long. 



"Probably in August or September the metamorphosis takes place 

 and land life begins." 



Remarks: This strongly marked form is related only to kimurai 

 and to stejnegeri. Of these stejnegeri is marbled with lighter both 

 above and below; kimurai is marbled above and on the sides, the belly 

 being uniform ; naevius is marbled on the sides and the belly, the dorsal 

 surface being immaculate. 



Tago (1907) records this animal from parts of Hondo north of 

 Tokyo, as follows: Uso Province, Kariwano; Iwashiro Province, 

 Hautayama; Shimozuke Province, Tochigi Machi, Iwabune; Fuku- 

 shima Prefecture, Ogawa; Ibaraki Prefecture, Shakutano; Kazusa 

 Province, Koshikiya. 



Okada records it from Kyoto, but this probably refers to kimurai, 

 and the reference has been placed in the synonymy of that species. 



Mention will be made below of larvae from Miyazu, Tango 

 Province, doubtfully referred to kimurai. If Tago is correct in his 



