82 REPTILIA. 



more closely set tubercles on the belly; the hind feet semi-pal- 

 mate. It remains in dark places, and passes the winter in a 

 hole which it excavates. It couples in the water in March and 

 April; when this takes place on shore, the female drags herself 

 to some ditch, Sec, carrying the male with her: she produces 

 innumerable small ova, united by a transparent kind of jelly in 

 two strings, that are often twenty or thirty feet long, in the ex- 

 traction of which the male assists with his hind feet. The Tad- 

 pole is blackish, and is ihe smallest of the European species, at 

 the period when it acquires legs and loses its tail. The Com- 

 mon Toad lives upwards of fifteen years, and is adult at four. 

 Its cry has some resemblance to the barking of a dog. 



/?. bicfo calamita, Gm.; Roes. XXIV; Baud. XXVII, 1. Olive 

 eolour; tubercles, as in the preceding; but not such large swell- 

 ings behind the ears; a yellow longitudinal line on the spine, and 

 a dentated reddish one on the flank: no membrane to the hind 

 feet. It diffuses a disagreeable odour, like that of gun-powder, 

 lives on land, and never leaps, but runs tolerably fast. It also 

 climbs up walls, to seek a shelter in their crevices, and for that 

 purpose has two little osseous tubercles under the palm of the 

 hands. It never visits the water except to couple, in the month 

 of June; the female lays two strings of eggs, like the Com- 

 mon Toad; the voice of the male, which has also a sac under the 

 throat, resembles that of the Tree Frog. 



Bufo fuseiis, Laurent.; JRana bombina^ ^, Gm. ; Roes. XVII, 

 XVIII. (The Natter Jack.) Light brown marbled with dark 

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

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

 completely 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 Com- 

 mon 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, Lac6p.; Pall. Spicil. VII, 

 vi, 34; Baud, xxviii, 2. 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 obstreticus, Laur. ; Le Crap, accoucheur, Baud. pi. xxxii, 

 f. 1. Small; grey above; whitish beneath; blackish points on the 

 back, and whitish ones on the sides. The male assists his fe- 



