38 BULLETIN 160, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



although I did lift it with my hand, but this I have done on many occasions 

 before without experiencing any trouble. I also handled with no ill efiFect a 

 toad of the same species that M'as later sent to the Bureau of Biological Survey, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Recently I have had a communication from Miss May Noble, who lives in 

 Phoenix and who within the past few days has had a similar experience. Her 

 Pekinese dog seized one of these green toads but Miss Noble got it away from 

 the dog before he had hurt it to any great extent. However, the dog soon became 

 paralyzed and Miss Noble called two veterinarians, one of whom seemed to 

 know nothing of the effects of that sort of poisoning, but the other said it was 

 not uncommon in this valley. Miss Noble informs me that she used ammonia 

 with good results and that the dog recovered within an hour after it had gotten 

 the poison. This dog, however, did not puncture the skin of the toad, only 

 picking it up. 



Although it is not so stated in the original description, Girard 

 seems to have based his description of Bufo aharius on specimens 

 received from two collectors. The locality is cited as the "Valley of 

 Gila and Colorado," and the collector is stated to be "A. Schott." 

 Arthur Schott was an assistant of Lieut. N. Michler, who was in 

 charge of the party surv^ejdng the United States and Mexican bound- 

 ary line from Fort Yuma, Calif., to Los Nogales, Sonora. Michler 's 

 party arrived at Fort Yuma from San Diego, Calif., on December 9, 

 1854, shortly after which Schott made surveys of the Gila and 

 Colorado Rivers for short distances above their junction. After the 

 initial point of the boundary line at the Colorado River was established 

 on April 21, 1855, preparations were made for the survey of the oblique 

 line. On May 5, 1855, the Mexican and American parties departed 

 from Fort Yuma and began their journey along the wagon road up 

 the Gila Valley to Tucson, Ariz. A camp was maintained near 

 Tucson during most of June. It was not until June 26, 1855, that 

 Michler 's party met the United States Commissioner, Maj. W. H, 

 Emory, and resumed the boundary survey near Los Nogales. The 

 topography of the boundary line between Los Nogales and the 

 Colorado River was completed on August 16, 1855. This itinerary 

 shows that Schott actually traversed the area designated as the type 

 locality. The next point to be determined is whether specimens of 

 this toad were collected in this area by Schott and transmitted to 

 the Museum. 



On the lower margin of the original set of drawings of Bufo alvarius 

 reproduced on the plate in the report on the reptiles of the United 

 States and Mexican Boundary Survey, Baird has written "Sierra de 

 la Union." There is only one entry in the catalogue of the division 

 of reptiles that could possibly apply to this specimen. The original 

 entry reads as follows: "Cat. No. 2571; Bu^o alvarius; Sierra de la 

 Union y Charcos de la Nariz; 2 specimens; received from Major 

 Emory; collected by A. Schott." This range of mountains is located 

 on the divide and not in the drainage of the Gila River, but it is quite 



