1880.] PAL^ARCTIC AND .ETHIOPIAN TOADS. 563 



Varietas A.— This form is, perhaps, specifically different from 

 the former, as it does not reach a size much superior to that of a 

 full-grown Ahjtes obstetricans. The tympanum is quite close to 

 the eye ; and the fingers are very slender. However, I will not ven- 

 ture to separate it from B. regularis, as the last two characters are 

 not of great importance, being subject to a certain variation. 



This is the form which was considered distinct from " B. pan- 

 therinus'' by Dr. Giinther, who named it B. ffuineensis, aher the 

 Leyden-Museum specimens. But the types of B. guineensis examined 

 by M. Lataste agree with the typical B. regularis ; therefore, should 

 this form be considered a distinct species, the name guineensis must 

 not be applied to it. B. spinosus, 13arboza du Socage, is, I think, 

 to be referred to this variety. 



Varietas B. — Differs from B. regularis typus in its larger size, its 

 rather concave interorbital space, and in its coloration, which in 

 some specimens, however, approaches very closely that of the 

 typical form. The upper surfaces are olive or brownish, with four 

 or five pairs of very large, irregular, dark brown spots ; there is 

 generally a yellowish vertebral line. The young have generally 

 the dorsal spots of a fine pink colour, black-margined, beneath 

 immaculate. 



Geographical Distribution. — B. regularis inhabits the whole of 

 continental ^Ethiopian Africa. Var. A is confined to the western 

 coast, where it occurs with the typical form ; var. B alone represents 

 the species in the south. 



Seetzen has observed this species in Egypt, where it is very plen- 

 tiful. He says:—" On September 19th (1808) I had one of the 

 frogs captured which croaked in the flooded fields between Kahira 

 and Bulak after sunset ; and I was convinced that these croaking 

 frogs, the voice of which is heard in the evening from the beginnino- 

 of September, are nothing else than these toads, which, immediately 

 after the flood, spread over the flooded plain, where the sexes meet 

 for breeding ; but at other times of the year they are never heard in 

 the fountains, where they can be found at any time. At the end of 

 this month and in the beginning of October the voice of these 

 toads ceases gradually ; and at the end of October they can be heard 

 no more." 



Historic. — This species is first mentioned in the • Description 

 de I'Egypte,' 1809, where Geoffroy St.-Hilaire gives a good figure 

 of it under the name " Grenouille ponctuee," but does not de- 

 scribe it. 



In 1834 Reuss describes it from specimens brought from Egypt by 

 Riippell, and names it Bii/o regularis. He identifies his B. regularis 

 with " G-renouille ponctuee" of Geoffroy, and B. nubicus, Fitzineer, 

 MS. 



The ' Erpetologie generale ' unites, under the name of B. panthe- 

 rinus, Boie MS., two quite distinct species, viz. B. maiiritanicus, 

 Schlegel, and B. regularis, Reuss. 



Afterwards Hallowell describes, very concisely, the species, giving 

 it the name of B. cinereus, which he changed afterwards to that of 



