26 



race of permanent gill -breathers, which would prove an interesting 

 addition to our list of aquarium animals. I now renew the appeal. 



Passing on to our Tailless Batrachians (FJcaitdata), we have four 

 to deal with, one of which is doubtfully indigenous. 



The two Toads, the Common [Bufo vnlnaris), and the Natterjack 

 {B. calamita) are easily distinguished in form, in coloration, and in 

 gait as well as in habits. The second differs from the first, which 

 is too familiar to need definition, in the shorter hind limbs, so short 

 that the toad is unable to hop and progresses, when pursued, by 

 running, the body raised from the ground, but stopping every few 

 seconds, )iniris uistar as expressed by its discoverer, the illustrious 

 Rosel von Eosenhof ; in the presence of a large porous gland on the 

 calf ; in the greenish-yellow colour of the eye, instead of reddish- 

 golden or copper colour ; in the presence of a yellow line along the 

 spine, never absent in any of the British specimens ; and in the 

 large vocal sac of the male, the throat swelling to the size of a 

 walnut in the act of croaking, in which this creature rivals the 

 green Tree-frog, the Common Toad, on the other hand, being 

 deprived of a vocal sac and uttering only a feeble note. 



The Common Toad is found all over England and Scotland, but 

 is absent from Ireland ; it has never existed on that island, as 

 otherwise its remains would certainly have been found with the 

 bones of so many small animals collected in great numbers in the 

 Pleistocene later deposits and studied with much care. The 

 Natterjack, on the other hand, is local in England, has only been 

 found at one place in Scotland, on the Moray Firth, but occurs 

 plentifully in Ireland around Castlemaine and Valentia harbours, 

 Co. Kerry. Colonies of Natterjacks are usually found in sandy 

 localities only, and come and go in a mysterious fashion. In 

 Thomas Bell's time this Toad occurred in abundance in Gilbert 

 White's garden at Selborne, but, and this is most surprismg when 

 we think of its remarkably garrulous nature, it appears to 

 have entirely escaped the notice of the great naturalist, which can 

 only be explained by supposing that it did not exist at or near 

 Selborne in those days. In his edition of White's " Selborne," Bell 

 remarks that the Natterjack, once so common, had abandoned his 

 garden, without any cause ever having ever suggested itself for its 

 disappearance. A similar mstance is known from Dorsetshire, 

 where the toad is stated by the Rev. 0. P. Cambridge to have been 

 very plentiful on Bloxworth Heath some 70 years ago, whilst it 

 does not appear to have been seen or heard in that vicinity for many 

 years past. 



The Common Frog {Rana temporaria) is distributed over the 

 whole of the British Isles, though more local in Ireland ; it reaches 

 the extreme north of Scotland, where remarkably large specimens 

 (up to nearly four inches without the limbs) are found. Its scien- 

 tific name, temporaria, is due to the dark brown or black spot cover- 

 ing the temple, a character which is, however, not to be trusted, as 



