1891.] TADPOLES OF THE EUROPEAN BATRACHIANS. 619 



but possessed of the usual grey, green-spotted coloration. Their 

 small size alone distinguished them. 



It is clear that the abnormal colour of these tadpoles was not due 

 to the surroundings at the time I observed them, as the water in 

 which they lived underwent various changes during the five weeks 

 I watched the pool ; and specimens which I brought home and 

 kept under the same conditions as normal larvae did not change 

 colour. I am therefore able to confirm the conclusions arrived at 

 by Heron Royer, from observations on larvae of Alijtes obstetricans 

 (Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 18/8, p. 05), that is, that the coloration is 

 due to the conditions under which tlie larva develops on leaving the 

 egg ; and that after that time, the pigment-cells becoming fixed and 

 less sensitive, little or no alteration takes place until the end of the 

 larval period. 



The largest tadpole of Pelodytes obtained by me in Brittany 

 measures 57 milUm. : body 21, width of body 15 ; tail 3G, depth of 

 tail 14. A sj)ecimen from Nice, received from Dr. de Bedriaga, 

 measures 65 millim. 



We are indebted for the first account of this tadpole to Heron Royer 

 (Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1878, p. l.'il, pi. iii.)> who pointed out 

 that the larva described and figured by Lataste as of Pelodytes 

 is that of Alytes obstetricans. He, however, erroneously repre- 

 sented the hues of muciferous crypts as decussating on the forehead ; 

 and this error was soon corrected by Lataste (Actes Soc. Linn. Bord. 

 xxxiii. 1879, p. 309). Further notes were contributed by Heron 

 Royer (Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1879, p. 229, pi. xi.), and by the 

 same author in conjunction with Van Bambcke (Arch, de Biol. ix. 

 1889, p. 277, pi. XX. figs. 5-12). The best description is that given 

 by Bedriaga (Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1889, p. 539), who for the first 

 time noticL^s the pigmentary decussating lines. 



The habitat oi Pelodytes punctatus is restricted to France, where it 

 occurs nearly everywhere with the exception of the central Plateau 

 and the extreme North-east, being recorded as far north as the 

 Pas-de-Calais (G-iard, Bull. Sc. Fr. Belg. xxii. 1890, p. 87), Spain 

 and Portugal, Liguria (Doria, Ann. Mus. Genova, xxiv. 1887, 

 p. 388), and Piedmont (Peracca, Boll. Mus. Torin. i. 1886, no. 1). 



The tadpole usually lives in flooded quarries. I have found it in 

 Brittany in company with tadpoles of Bana esculenta, R. igilis, Bufo 

 calamita, and Hyla arborea. 



A. Thomas (Ann. Sc. ?fat. 4, i. 1854, p. 290) appears to have 

 been the first to notice, at Nantes, that Pelodytes breeds not only in 

 the spring, but also in the autumn ; and he assigned to this species 

 two broods a year — the first from the end of February to the beginning 

 of April, the second from the end of September to the beginning 

 of October. Lataste (Actes Soc. Linn. Bord. xxix. C. R. 1874, 

 p. cli) has witnessed its breeding, near Bordeaux, on the 22nd May, 

 and (Actes Soc. Linn. Bord. xxxi. 1876, p. 11) near Paris on the 

 8th July. Thomas's statement regarding the autumnal breeding 

 has been contested by Heron Royer (Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1878, 

 p. 131, and Bull. Soc. Et. Sc. Angers, 2, xv. 1885, p. 103), but is 



