44 KEPTILES. 



half- webbed, in one specimen the membrane is only rudimentary ; 

 toes half- webbed, Tongaxe elongate, ovoid, behind rather broader ; 

 on each side, in the male, a cleft for the gular sac ; eustachian tubes 

 and inner nares small. Size of Bombinator igneus. 



3. Phryniscus cruciger. (Plate III, fig, B,) 

 Phrynidium crucigerum, Martens, I, c. p. 41, 



Upper parts without spines, with a few flat warts ; snout pointed, 

 much protruding, obhquely truncated, tlie prolonged outlines forming 

 an acute angle ; canthus rostralis not swollen, crown flat ; extremi- 

 ties slender ; plantar and palmar surface nearly smooth ; tarsus with 

 a cutaneous fold at the inner edge ; first and second fingers with a 

 rudimentary membrane between ; first finger short. Above olive, 

 punctulated with black and more or less regular figures ; beneath 

 uniform whitish. 



a-d. Adult. Curanna (2000 feet). From Mr. Dyson's Collection. 



Description. — Habit rather slender, raniform. Head angular, 

 canthus rostrahs not or not much swollen ; cro-rna and lorcal region 

 rather flat ; nose much protruding, rather rounded in front, obliquely 

 truncated, reaching far beyond the mouth ; the lateral outhncs, if 

 prolonged, would form an angle of about 55°. Mouth moderately 

 cleft ; nares small, lateral, narrow. Back with only a few small 

 flat warts ; crown of head quite smooth ; upper parts of the extremi- 

 ties covered with small warts ; from the eye along the side of back 

 near to the anus a series of flat, large, spiny warts ; spiny warts on 

 the sides scarce ; under parts quite smooth. Extremities rather 

 slender ; humenis much longer than occiput broad ; thigh and calf 

 nearly equal in length, much longer than humerus. Toes half- 

 webbed. Tongue much elongate, narrow, entire behind ; inner 

 nares small, eustachian tubes none. Only on the right side of the 

 tongue a cleft for the vocal sac. Above oHve, punctulated with 

 black ; black crossing streaks between the shoulders, three radiating 

 towards the forehead and the two eyehds ; black ii'regular streaks 

 on the back and the legs, sometimes wanting ; a black lateral streak 

 along the series of warts, running through the eye ; beneath uniform 

 whitish. Body of the largest specimen 3" long. 



I doubted a long time whether the above specimens form a separate 

 species, or whether they belong to Phrynidium crucigerum, established 

 and published by Martens in 1856. He found, by a closer examina- 

 tion of the Berlin specimens, that Phrynidium agrees with Phryniscus 

 in the structure of the ear. But then the only dififcrenccs between 

 the two genera would be, that the former has one tubercle on the 

 metatarsus and a smooth skin. Both these characters are produced 

 by an imperfect preservation of tlie Berlin specimens, at least as 

 regards Phrynidium crucigerum. The metatarsal tubercles are very 

 flat, and become easily invisible ; and the same is the case with the 

 lateral spiny warts, which are so characteristic of the species. 

 Perhaps they are more pronoimced in the male (see Dufo agua, p. 64). 



