TAILLESS BATRACHIANS 241 



capsules, are ready to hatch, and the father betakes himself 

 to the water, where they are released in the form of 

 advanced tadpoles, measuring about a quarter of an inch 

 in length. 



According to Kammerer, the eggs will develop in water 

 if taken away from the parent, even just after oviposition ; 

 and he has made the surprising observation that the off- 

 spring of the second generation will of their own accord go 

 to the water for breeding purposes. The writer has on 

 numbers of occasions taken away the newly laid eggs from 

 the male and placed them in water, in order to repeat 

 Kammerer's experiments, but never with success, the eggs 

 j dying after continuing their development for a few days. 



The tadpoles are very large, measuring up to nine 

 centimetres in length ; although specimens, amply provided 

 with food, which I have kept, did not transform until over 

 two years from the time they were hatched, in the wild 

 state the majority do so within a year. 



A. cisternasii, restricted to certain parts of Spain and 

 Portugal, is somewhat stouter, and has a proportionately 

 larger head ; it may also be distinguished from the com- 

 moner species by the presence of two palmar tubercles 

 instead of three. Although the actual pairing has not 

 been observed, the male has been found carrying the 

 eggs, and, therefore, its breeding habits are, in all 

 probability, identical with those of J. obstetricans. 



Sub-order Aglossa : this sub-order of tongueless frogs 

 is represented by a single family, the Pipid^, which is 

 divided into three genera, namely, Xenopus, of Tropical 

 and South Africa, Hymenochirus, of Tropical Africa, and 

 Pipa^ of Tropical America. 



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