Introduction 



This Bulletin had its origin on July 9, 1957, when the following 

 letter was received at the United States National Museum: 



Museo del Institute* de La Salle 

 Bogota - D.E., Colombia 



Dr. Doris M. Cochran 



United States National Museum 



Washington, D.C. 



Madam: 



I have before me your important publication "Frogs of Southeastern Brazil" 

 and this prompts me to ask you whether you could accept to identify my collec- 

 tion of Batrachians, especially frogs and toads. 



The specimens were collected chiefly along the Amazonian River (Leticia), 

 and near Floiencia, Caqueta; Villavicencio, Meta; the Cucuta region in Norte 

 de Santander, etc. 



The material sent for study would be left as a gift for the National Museum, 

 and a tag or label bearing a number would be attached to each of the specimens 

 corresponding to my own list. 



I wonder if you can accept my offer and would thank you for a prompt answer. 



Please accept my very best wishes for your personal welfare and believe me. 



Yours very sincerely, 

 Brother NiceToro Maria 

 Director of the Museum 



Although it was our original intention to report only on the collec- 

 tion in the Museo del Instituto de La Salle, we soon found that there 

 were rather extensive collections available in other institutions and 

 it seemed advisable to bring all of the material together and present 

 a single, comprehensive report. 



With one of us working in Washington, D.C, and the other in 

 Gainesville, Florida, it was necessary that we divide the work to 

 some extent. Of the accounts that follow, the ones of the families 

 Pipidae, Ranidae, Pseudidae, Bufonidae, Atelopodidae, and Lepto- 

 dactylidae were largely prepared by the senior author, those of the 

 families Microhylidae, Hylidae, and Centrolenidae by the junior 

 author. We worked closely throughout the project, however, and we 

 tried to solve all "problems" together; thus, we are jointly responsible 

 for all parts. 



The land area of Colombia, comprising 1,136,153 square kilometers, 

 extends from latitude 12°30' N. to 4°14' S. and from longitude 

 66°51' W. to 79°01' W. 



