TAILLESS BATRACHIANS 209 



surface of the water, alighting on all fours and starting 

 again, as it would on land. 



Arthroleptis, a genus of small, slender frogs restricted to 

 Africa, is made up of about a dozen species. The limbs 

 are comparatively long, with the fingers and toes almost 

 free. The pupil is horizontal. The tympanum may be 

 distinct or hidden. 



A. seychcllensis has peculiar nursing habits, the male or 

 female, it is not known which, carrying the tadpoles, to 

 the number of about a dozen, which are provided with long 

 tails, about on the back, the larvae clinging on by their 

 bellies. Whether the young undergo the whole of their 

 metamorphosis on their parent's back, or whether they are 

 taken to the water to complete it, has not been ascertained. 



Hylambates, an arboreal genus, inhabiting Tropical 

 Africa, has the tips of the fingers and toes, both of which 

 are more or less webbed, dilated into discs. The pupil is 

 erect. 



In H. hreviceps, of the Cameroons, the female protects 

 its eggs, which are large and few in number, by carrying 

 them about in the mouth. 



Rhacophorus, another arboreal genus, is composed of 

 nearly fifty species, which inhabit the East Indies, China, 

 Japan, and Madagascar. Both fingers and toes are webbed ; 

 the extent of the web differs much, the fingers in some 

 species being completely webbed, whilst in others they are 

 not even half-webbed. As in true tree-frogs, the tips of 

 the fingers and toes are dilated into large round, adhesive 

 discs. The tympanum is generally distinct. The pupil 

 is horizontal. The tongue is free and deeply notched. 

 In the majority of species the coloration harmonizes with 



