362 NATURAL HISTORY. 



prettily marked and blotched with light red, grey, and dark-brown tints, are also common in South 

 Africa,* but nothing is known regarding their habits. 



The Panther Toadt is an African form, and specimens are readily found in South Africa after a 

 shower of rain. The Water-padda, a Cape of Good Hope Toad, is of tener found in water than on land. 



The marshy and swampy districts of Central America near the sea have a large brown Toad 

 covered with low unequal tubercles, and having huge parotids. It is called the Agua. 



Mr. Darwin (when in South America) wrote : " Amongst the Batrachian reptiles, 1 found only 

 one little Toad, which was most singular from its colour. If we imagine, first, that it had been 

 steeped in the blackest ink, and then, when dry, allowed to crawl over a board freshly painted with 

 the brightest vermilion, so as to colour the soles of its feet, and parts of its stomach, a good idea of 

 its appearance will be gained. If it is an unnamed species, surely it ought to be called Diabolicus, for 

 it is a fit Toad to preach in the ear of Eve. Instead of being nocturnal in its habits, as other Toads 

 are, and living in damp, obscure recesses, it crawls during the heat of the day about the dry sand- 

 hillocks and arid plains, where not a single drop of water can be found. It must necessarily depend 

 on the dew for its moisture ; and this probably is absorbed by the skin, for it is known that these 

 reptiles possess great powers of cutaneous absorption. At Maldonado I found one in a situation 

 nearly as dry as at Bahia Blanca, and, thinking to give it a great treat, carried it to a pool of water. 

 Not only was the little animal unable to swim, but I think without help would soon have been 

 drowned." 



Amongst the North American Toads there is the Carolina Toad, about two inches and a half 

 long, which is found in. the Southern States. It has a large head and mouth, and greatly elevated 

 ridges above the eyes, ending in a knob. The lower jaw has a hook in front, and the parotid 

 reaches from the tympanum to the shoulder. It has an internal vocal sac, and the dusky-brown 

 yellowish body is warty. It is a timid, gentle animal, and ventures out in the dusk of the evening. 

 It feeds on various insects, which it seizes only when alive and in position. Catesby says it feeds on 

 fire-flies, and will by mistake capture a piece of burning charcoal. They become tame, and one, which 

 had some water poured on its head, returned the next day for a similar kind treatment. Another is 

 brick-red above, and lives in the oak forests of South Carolina (Bufo erythronotus). The Oak Frog 

 (Bufo quercus), about three-quarters of an inch long, is a pretty little Toad with a flat head and 

 pointed snout. It is of a light colour, and has a yellowish line along the back. The belly is silvery- 

 grey, and the groins are yellow. It likes the sandy districts where small oaks replace the pine forests. 

 The American Toad (Bufo americanus) is a very warty kind, and has a white line down the back, and 

 it is about two inches and a half long. It is a timid animal, and lives like the English Toad. Its 

 head is smaller in proportion to the European species, and there is a process on the root of the fore toe. 

 It is widely distributed in the Northern United States. 



The next family, the Engystomatidae, is typified by Engystoma carolinense. It has a small, pointed 

 short head, and the skin is a delicate chestnut above, and mottled with black beneath. It is a South 

 United States form, hiding up by day and coming out in the evening after heavy rains. Others occur 

 in the Peninsula of India. 



The Breviceps are Toads which have not visible parotid glands or tympanic membranes, and they 

 have an oval-shaped body, and the head and mouth are small, the feet being but slightly webbed. One 

 called the Rain Puddock in the Cape Colony lives in holes or burrows in the ground, from which it emerges 

 during rain, and on such occasions croaks loudly. It has a swollen-out body, and the head is scarcely 

 distinguishable from it, and the surface of the skin is warty. Above, it is a dirty reddish-brown colour 

 variegated with two or four rows of dull orange spots more or less distinct. Underneath, it is dirty 

 greenish-yellow. The pupil is transverse and the iris green. When irritated it inflates the lungs to 

 their utmost extent, and is then like a distended bladder, and discharges an acrid mucus profusely 

 from its pores. 



The Rhinophrynidse family are Toads which have neither tympana nor parotid glands, and the 

 tongue is free in front, and the type is in Mexico. 



The last family is that of the "Rhinodermatidse, which have no parotids, but the transverse 

 processes of the sacrum are large. 



* Bufo anyusticeps and Bufo yariepensis. t Bvfo pantherinus. 



