SUEINAM TOAD.- 



-REPTILES.- 



-Common Salamander. 



95 



savannas bordering on the higlicr ground ; and by an 

 inattentive person niiglit be taken for spiJeis or otlier 

 insects. Their note is very feeble, not unlil^e the chat- 

 tering of young birds or criclicts." Tliis species of 

 frog, Iil;e the others already mentioned, feeds npon 

 insects, and is very active and nimble, making immense 

 leaps to secure its prey, or to escape from its pursuers. 

 It can easily be domesticated, and takes its food readily 

 from the hand. 



A number of Tree-frogs are also found in Africa, 

 but we have not space to describe any of them. 



Of the Second division of Anourous or Tailless 

 Batracbians, the Pkoteuoglossa, or those which 

 have the tongue free in front instead of adhering, 

 there is only one genus, Riiinopiiuynus, and only one 

 species of the genus, R. dorsalis ; a toad-like reptile, 

 with a broad, depressed, and rounded body, of a 

 bluish-gray colour, marked with yellowish spots on the 

 sides and along the back. It is a native of Mexico. 



Of the Third division, the Tongueless Fkogs 

 (Aglossa), or those which have no tongue at all, the 

 species are few in number ; but amongst them there is 

 one which, from its curious organization, is well worthy 

 of attention : — 



THE SURINAM TOAD {Pipa Americana) — repre- 

 sented in Plate 2, fig. 2 — is this species. The genus 

 PlPA is remarkable among the Anourous Batrachians 

 from the female having pouches on the back, in which 

 the eggs are placed by the male, and which arc batched 

 there instead of in the water, as in all the other Batra- 

 chians. This is the only species known, and is a native 

 of South America. It is common in some parts of 



Brazil and in Guiana, where it is often found taking 

 up its abode in obscure corners of houses. It is more 

 especially common in Surinam — hence its common 

 name of Surinam toad. By tlie natives of Brazil it 

 is called tcdo and mru-curu. The Surinam toad is a 

 larger species than our common European toad, and is 

 remarkably ugly. It is from six to eight inches in 

 length, and four or five in breadth. In shape it is 

 horizontally flattened, the head being short, broad, and 

 triangular. The skin is of a dirty brown colour, thickly 

 studded with reddish tubercles. The most remarkable 

 part of the history of these animals, however, is the 

 peculiar method of reproducing their young. The 

 female has the back fitted with a great number of cells 

 or small pouches, and at the time of spawning, the 

 male, firmly clinging to her, carefully deposits the eggs, 

 to the number of about one hundred, as they issue 

 from her, in those cells, and there impregnates them. 

 The mother then hurries to the water, where she 

 remains. In a short time the skin becomes slightly 

 inflamed, a kind of irritation is set up, the skin swells, 

 the pits deepen, and in due time the eggs become 

 developed into the tadpole state. These young ani- 

 mals, however, remain in that position till they are 

 fully developed, not leaving their place of abode till 

 they have assumed the [lerfect form. They then take 

 refuge in the water, and the mother returns to dry 

 land. Notwithstanding the repulsive and somewhat 

 disgusting appearance these animals present to the 

 eye, in many parts of South America the natives use 

 them as food. Three species have been described, 

 but in reality there is only one. 



Sub-Order II.— BATRACIIIA GPtADIENTIA, or URODELA (Walking 



or Tailed Batrachians). 



Tnis sub-order of Batrachians differs from the pre- 

 ceding in having the body elongate and tapering in 

 form, and in the animals of which it is composed being 

 possessed of a tail at all times of their life. The meta- 

 morphosis, or change which the young undergo in 

 their progress to maturity is less complete than in the 

 tailless species. 



The Urodelcs or Tailed Batrachians may be divided 

 into three Families : Salamandrid^, MoLCiDiE, and 

 PLETOODONTiDyE, characterized by the position of their 

 teeth. 



Family I.— SALAMANDERS {Salamandrida-). 



In the animals belonging to this family, the teeth on 

 (he palate are placed in two longitudinal diverging 

 scries on the inner hinder edge of the elongated tri- 

 angular vomerine bones. The skull has in general a 

 more or less well-developed bony orbit above the eyes. 

 The tongue is broad, only slightly attached, being free 

 on the sides, and jiartially so behind. 



Salamanders are either terrestrial or aquatic. They 

 arc generally found in moist places ; the aquatic species 



living in lakes, ponds, and ditches. They prefer still 

 water, and choose retired and shady places. Their 

 food consists of animal matters, such as aquatic insects, 

 earth-worms, small leeclies, molluscs, and planariaj, 

 &c. The tail, which, as we have already mentioned, 

 in all the other species of the sub-order is persistent 

 through life, is either round, or flattened and com- 

 pressed. In general the species are of small size, and 

 the greater number are natives of Europe and North 

 America. None have as yet been found in South 

 America, India, Australia, Madagascar, or in either 

 Central or South Africa. North Africa furnishes a 

 few, and there are some found in Japan. Eighteen 

 species have been described in the Catalogue of Am- 

 phibia in the British Museum. 



One of these was well known to the ancients, and 

 has been the source of abundant fables and extrava- 

 gant assertions. 



THE COMMON OU TERRESTRIAL SALAMANDER 

 {SidtiiiKindra vutcidvsa) is the species, anil is repre- 

 sented in our Plate 3, fig. 3, and Plate 8, fig. 19 

 — (skull). The Salamander was formerly, and still is 

 in many places, believed to be able to brave the violence 



