BATRAC1IIANS. 71 



brown or blackish; tubercles on the back but few, and the size of 

 lentils ; the belly smooth ; toes of the hind feet elongated, and com- 

 pletely palmate; it leaps well, prefers the vicinity of water, and 

 diffuses a strong odour of garlic when disturbed. The ova form but 

 one string, thicker however than both those of the Common Toad. 

 The Tadpole is longer in coming to maturity than any other French 

 species ; and, when very large, is still found with its tail, and the 

 fore-feet, not developed — when it does complete its metamorphosis, 

 it actually seems to shrink. It is eaten in some places as if it were 

 a fish. 



Ran. variabilis, Gm. ; Crapaud vert, Lacep. ; Pall. Spicil. VII, 

 vi, 34; Daud. xxviii, 2. (The Variable Frog). Almost smooth; 

 whitish, with deep green spots ; remarkable for the changes in the 

 hue of the skin, according to the light in which it is placed, or as it 

 wakes or sleeps. 



Bufo obstetricans, Laur. ; Le Crap, accoucheur, Daud. pi. xxxii, 

 f. 1. (The Midwife Frog). Small; grey above; whitish beneath ; 

 blackish points on the back, and whitish ones on the sides. The 

 male assists his female in the expulsion of the eggs, which are large, 

 and fastens them on his thighs, in bundles, by means of some glu- 

 tinous threads. He carries them about with him until the eyes of 

 the Tadpoles they contain can be distinguished through their enve- 

 lope, and, in fact, until the time when they are about to be hatched; 

 he then seeks some stagnant water, in which he deposits them. 

 The eggs immediately split, and the Tadpoles swim out. It is very 

 small, and is carnivorous. Very common in stony places near 

 Paris *. 



Sicily produces a Toad three or four times larger than those of 

 France, that is brown, with flat and irregular tubercles. It is gene- 

 rally found in the tuft of a palm. We will call it Bufo palmarum — 

 the Palm Frog. 



The Toads, foreign to Europe, have hitherto been badly determined; 

 several are remarkable for their size. 



Rana marina, Gm. ; Le Crapaud agua; Daud. XXVII; Spix, 

 XV. Brown, varied with dark brown; unequal and slightly salient 

 tubercles ; the triangular parotids more than an inch wide in indivi- 

 duals, which are from ten to twelve inches long, exclusive of the 

 feet. Found in the marshy districts of South America^. 

 Several subgenera have been lately separated from that of the Toads ; 

 thus, the 



* It is impossible to say why Merrem placed the obstetricans among his Bombina- 

 tores — its tympanum is very visible. 



f Add, Bufo maculiventris, Spix, XV, should it prove to diiferfrom the agua; — B. 

 ietericus, Id. XVI, 1; — B. lazarus, Id. xvii, 1; — B. sttUatus, Id. XVIII, 1; — B. sca- 

 ber, Daud. XXXI V, which is not the same as the B. scaber of Spix, X, 1; — B. bcn- 

 galensis, Id. xxxv, 1; — B. musicus, Id. XXXIII, 2; — B. cinctus, Pr. Max. fasc. 3: 

 the B. agua, Id. fasc. 7, does not appear to be the same as that of Spix. 



