422 ON TMK TYTE-SPECIMEN OF KANA IIOLSTI. 



the part of Mr. ISToble is difficult to iiccount for, as his idea of 

 the type-specimeu was apparently derived from i)i'. Stejneger *, 

 who says : " I have had the privilege of examining the unique 

 type-specimen, but I have nothing to add to Boulenger's ori- 

 ginal description " ; a most accurate ligure of the left hand is 

 given by him. 



It was therefore quite a reasonable suggestion to make, even 

 if now proved to be incoi-rect, that the dagger is a secondary 

 sexual character of the male as the " aiguillons cornes et caducs 

 qui arment le doigfc interne de certains Leptodaciylus d'Amerique 

 et qui servent a renforcer I'amplexus pendant I'accouplement" t. 

 In Tym/panoceros nev-toni Bocage, for anothei' instance, the male 

 is armetl with a powerful, protruding dagger on the inner side of 

 the first finger, whilst the female has none whatever. This 

 point, ho'.vever, is set at rest by Mr. Van Denburg, who says 

 " the dagger is fully developed in adults of both sexes. Our 

 collection includes females which contain eggs nearlj' ready for 

 laying. I'hese [sfc] are ai'mecl with spurs as large and formidable 

 as are to be found in males.'' This shows, therefore, that the 

 "dagger" may, or may not, protrude externally in R. holsti, 

 unless, which is unlikely, the females described by Van Denburg 

 a,nd Noble belong to a distinct, closely allied species. 



* Herp. .Tap, Bull. U.S. Nat. Hist. Mus. No. 58, 1907, p. 105, fig. 84. 

 t Ijoulengvr, C. \i. Ac. Sci. 1918, vol. clxv. pp. 987-999. 



