240 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



Alytes, a European genus, is represented by two essen- 

 tially nocturnal species, A. obstetricans and A. cisternasii, 

 which may be distinguished from one another by several 

 external characters. In these toads the skin is very tuber- 

 culate ; the pupil is vertical ; the tympanum distinct ; the 

 processes of the sacral vertebrae are much dilated ; the 

 fingers are quite free, the toes feebly webbed. 



The Midwife Toad, A. obstetricans, a small greyish- 

 green or pale brown toad, of about two inches in length, 

 although seldom met with on account of its nocturnal 

 habits, is abundant over the greater part of France, Spain, 

 Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Western Germany, and 

 South-Eastern Holland. It is found in the plains close to 

 the sea, as well as in the mountains, ascending to an alti- 

 tude of nearly 7,000 feet, where, but for two or three 

 months in the year, the ground is covered with snow. 

 The breeding habits of this toad, which were first described 

 by Demours from observations made on specimens in the 

 gardens of the Jardin des Plantes, and later, and more fully, 

 by de L'Isle, in Brittany, where he spent more than fifty 

 nights in the open in order to make his notes, are perhaps 

 the most wonderful of all batrachians. Pairing takes place 

 on land from April to August, when twenty to sixty eggs 

 are laid in a rosary-like string. As they are expelled, the 

 male, clasping the female tightly round the head, above the 

 fore limbs, pushes his legs through the mass of eggs until 

 they are firmly entwined round his limbs. Male and 

 female then separate, and the former, laden with his 

 burden, retires to some underground retreat, from which 

 he occasionally ventures forth at night, in order to moisten 

 the eggs in the wet grass, or to secure food. After about 

 a month, the larvae, which have developed within the tgg- 



