ART. 25 CHINESE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES STEJNEGER 27 



A splendid series of ten adults (U. S. Nat. Miis. Nos. 64884-93) 

 of this very large frog was collected during the late autumn of 1921 

 ■by Sowerby in the upper Min River basin, at an altitude of about 

 5,000 feet, consequently not far from the type locality of the species. 

 Three equally large specimens (Nos. 64647-9) collected by C. R. 

 Kellogg on August 10 of the same year supplement the above and 

 l^ive a good demonstration of the variability of this species. The 

 more variable parts seem to be the interorbital width and the relative 

 distance of the nostrils between the eye and the tip of the snout, but 

 with the looseness of the skin it is very difficult to give exact measure- 

 ments which are of value to others than the one taking them. 



The males have the breast studded with white semiglobular tuber- 

 cles, which in most of them are surmounted by a black conical spine. 

 Similar spiny tubercles closely crowded together form pads at the 

 tip of the inner metacarpal tubercle, which is enormously developed, 

 the u]5per and inner sides of first and second fingers and inner side 

 of third finger. The largest specimen, a male (No. 64884), measures 

 115 mm. in total length from tip of snout to vent. 



The obserAations made by Mr. Sowerby on the habits of this 

 species coincide with those recorded by Pere David, who discovered 

 the species in the high mountains dividing the province of Kiangsi 

 from Fukien. In his letter of January 27, 1922, Mr. Sowerby writes 

 that " The large frogs were taken amongst the rocks in the stream 

 beds nt an altitude of 5,000 feet," and that " they are considered a 

 great delicacy by the Chinese." Mr. Kellogg, writing from Foo- 

 chow, adds that " they seem fairly common, as I have seen large 

 numbers of them for sale at different times, though they are rare 

 enough to bring a better price in the markets than the common 

 frogs." 



liesides the above large specimens, Mr. Sowerby sent a very young 

 one (No. 65249), which he collected at Yenpingfu, Fukien, and 

 wliicli I refer to this species with but little doubt. It is only 26 mm. 

 long, but it has already a very strongly developed inner metacarpal 

 tubercle ; in addition the distance between eye and nostril is veiy 

 short, so that I do not think it can be referred to R. huhlii. 



RANA LIMNOCHARIS Gravenhorst 



To the synonymy as given in Herpetology of Japan, 1907, p. 127, add : 



1829. Rana limnocharis " Kuhl " Gravenhorst, Delic. Mus. Zool. Vratislav., 

 f asc. 1, p. 42 ( type locality, Java ; type in Mus. Breslau ; Kuhl, collec- 

 tor). — WiEGMANN, Nova Acta Acad. Leop. Carol., vol. 17, pt. 1, p. 255 

 (Java). — BoETTGER, Kat. Batr. Mu.s. Senckenberg., 1892, p. 3 (Hong- 

 kong; Shanghai; Canton; Hankow); Eer. Senckenberg. Naturf. Ges., 

 1894, p. 137 (Hongkong) ; p. 138 (Hankow) ; p. 144 (Shanghai).— Wer- 

 ner, Abb. Bayer. Akad. Wiss., II Kl., vol. 22, pt. 2, 1903, pp. 358, 308 

 < Shanghai; Hankove). — Wolterstorff, Abh. Mus. Madgeburg, vol. 1, 



