534 THE SURINAM TOAD. 



siderable size, and is the only one of its family at present 

 known. The upper part of the body is of the deepest azure- 

 blue, while the under parts are of a pure white, sometimes of 

 a rosy tinge. The thighs and sides are spotted with the same 

 tinge as the abdomen. 



Darwin found a curious little toad, the Phryniscus nigri- 

 cans, on the dry sandy soil of the Pampas, " which looked," 

 he says, '' as if it had been steeped in the blackest ink, and 

 then, when dry, allowed to crawl over a board freshly painted 

 with the brightest vermilion." 



Instead of being nocturnal in its habits, as other toads are, 

 and living in obscure recesses, it crawls about over dry hillocks 

 and arid plains during the day, where not a single drop of 

 water can be found. It depends on the dew for its moisture, 

 which is probably absorbed by the skin. The creature seems 

 to dread water, and is utterly unable to swim. 



THE SURINAM TOAD. 



The Surinam toad is one of the most curious, though, at 

 the same time, among the most hideous of batrachians. It is 

 remarkable on account of the extraordinary way in which its 

 young are developed. The skin of the female is separated, as 

 is the case with others of its family, from the muscles of the 

 back, and is nearly half an inch thick. She deposits her eggs, 

 or spawn, at the brink of some stagnant water, when the male 

 manages to take them up in his paws and places them on her 

 back, where they adhere by means of a glutinous secretion, 

 and are pressed into cells which, at that time, are open to re- 

 ceive them. Gradually the cells are closed by a membrane 

 which grows over them, when her back greatly resembles a 

 piece of honeycomb, the cells of which are filled and closed. 



