1880.] ON THE PAL.EARCTIC AND ^ETHIOPIAN TOADS. 545 



lized fishes the ' Dipnoi ' {Lepidosiren and Geratodus), becoming 

 greatty modified, -cut up into separate parts, with most diverse modi- 

 fications and uses. 



"Indeed the loss of the gills and the full development of the lungs 

 in these forms is correlated vrith many other excellencies and accom- 

 plishments in these creatures, which make them the forerunners and 

 prophets of the still more excellent types that rise, group above 

 group, in the ascending scale of the Vertebrata 



" I know full well that the tailless Amphibia form a nobler group 

 than this, with richer endowments and clearer prophecies ; but they 

 spring from another root-stock, and look upwards towards another 

 culmination. 



" In these, the Anura, we have, so to speak, the ' prim« linese ' of 

 the Mammalia; we see the ' members' of the Saiiropsida written ia 

 legible characters in the unfolding scroll of the ' Urodeles.' 



" In conclusion, I have to thank Dr. Sclater and the President for 

 much of the invaluable materials for this paper, and to express a 

 hope that the Members of the Society will not be slow to receive 

 and put value upon any honest work that explains the morpholo- 

 gical meaning of this or that type, or group of types, of the Verte- 

 brata." 



The following papers were read : — 



1. On the Palsearctic and Ethiopian Species ofBufo. By G. 

 A. BouLENGER, Alde-Naturaliste at the Royal Museum 

 of Belgium. (Communicated by Dr. A. Gunther.) 



[Keceived August 3, 1880.] 

 (Plates L.-LII.) 



The present monograph I had undertaken a year ago in collabo- 

 ration with my friend M. Lataste of Paris, who, after having worked 

 at it during several months, has given it up, being obliged to attend 

 to other studies. He had collected a good deal of information, and 

 he has been so kind as to give me the free use of all his notes con- 

 cerning this subject. 



The African species of the genus Biifo have been buthttle studied, 

 and their synonymy is in a state of great disorder ; species which 

 are evidently identical have been separated, whilst others quite di- 

 stinct have been united. This is the reason that induced M. 

 Lataste and myself to undertake this study. But as the species 

 of the J-ithiopian and Palaearctic regions are very closely allied, 

 we thought it necessary to extend our investigations to both 

 regions— especially as the variations that some of the Palccarctic 

 species undergo have not yet been noticed by authors, and as, at 

 present, even in the most important collections, these species are not 

 always properly distinguished. 



