1891.] TADPOLES or THK EUROPEAN BATRACHIANS. 613 



whilst differing from both its congeners in its larger size and its 

 broader interiiarial space, and approaching B. vulgaris \\\ its wide 

 mouth, varies as regards its labial dentition between the two types. 

 Heron Royer and Van Bambeke represent the labial dentition as 

 very similar to that of B. calamita ; and whilst I have seen Italian 

 specimens which agree tolerably well with the figure given by these 

 authors, I have at the same time examined others from Breslau 

 which would be pronoiinced as B. vulgaris, if that character alone 

 were taken into consideration. The Italian specimens which I 

 have examined all show the second upper labial series widely 

 interrupted in the middle, but extending outwards nearly, or quite, 

 as far as the first ; the first lower series measures two thirds to 

 three fourths the length of the second. The large series of 

 specimens (about 50) from Breslau, for which I am indebted to the 

 kindness of Prof. Born, shows every passage between the widely 

 interrupted second upper series of teeth and one that differs in no 

 respect from that of B. vu/<jaris ; the length of the first lower series 

 varies from one half to three fourths the length of the second. 



Distance between the eyes about once and a half the distance 

 between the nostrils, and equal to the width of the mouth. Tail 

 three to four times as long as deep, broadly rounded at the end, its 

 upper crest more convex than in B. vulgaris and a little deeper 

 than the lower ; the depth of the muscular part of the tail about 

 half the greatest total depth. 



Brown or greyish olive above, uniform or with small darker 

 spots ; belly greyish white ; caudal crests greyish white, with or 

 without small brown spots or dots. 



The following are the measurements of the largest specimen, 

 from Breslau, examined by me: — Total length 44 millim.: body 18, 

 width of body 13 ; tail 26, depth of tail 9. The recently transformed 

 young measures from 10 to 17 millim. from snout to vent. 



The tadpole of B. viridis has been described by Heron Royer 

 and Van Bambeke {I. c. p. 293, pi. xxiii. fig. 3) and by Bedriaga 

 (Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1889, p. 387). 



This species has a very wide geographical range. It inhabits the 

 whole of Central and Southern Europe as far west as the Rhine and 

 the Alps, the Balearic Islands, North Africa, and South-western and 

 Central Asia as far east as Mongolia, Eastern Turkestan, Afghanistan, 

 and the Himalayas. In Europe it is known to reach an altitude of 

 nearly 6500 feet in the Alps of Savoy (R. Blauchard, Bull. Soc. Zool. 

 France, 1888, p. 67) ; and in xA.sia it ascends the Himalayas to about 

 15,000 feet (Stoliczka, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xxxix. 1870, p. 155), 

 which is, next to the altitude of 17,000 feet reached by Bu/o vul- 

 garis, the highest point from which a Batrachian has ever been 

 recorded. 



The breeding-season falls between that of B. vulgaris and that of 

 B. calamita, lasting from the beginning of April to the middle of 

 June. Like B. vulgaris and unlike B. calamita, which is never to 

 be found in the water except at night, the breeding individuals make 

 a prolonged sojourn in the water. 



