December 30, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



935 



In a specimen from Bordeaux, from which 

 [Boulenger] prepared the first skeleton, 

 [he] found matters as stated hy DHges,whilst 

 in two other skeletons, from Bordeaux and 

 Avignon, the two bones are as completely 

 fused as in P.fitsciis." Mr. Boulenger well 

 adds: "As the ankylosis of the sacrum and 

 coccyx has been given as a generic character 

 of Pelobafes, it is important to note the in- 

 constancy of the character in this species 

 at least." Still less is the character of family 

 value. Further, an examination of the 

 skeletons of Pelodytes, Pelobates and Seaphio- 

 pus should convince a competent observer 

 , that the difference between Pelobates and 

 Pelodytes are much less than those between 

 Pelobates and Scaphiopus. Scaphio^nts differs 

 from Pelobates in the reduced dilatation of 

 the diapophyses of the sacral vertebra, 

 the strength and, direction of other dia- 

 pophyses, the cartilaginous ' xiphister- 

 num,' the absence of a bony style, and 

 the development of a ' cavum tympani and 

 tympanum.' In all the contrasted charac- 

 ters Pelobates agrees with Pelodytes, and, if 

 the family is to be divided, the two Euro- 

 pean genera should be combined and con- 

 trasted with the American. The eminent 

 herpetologist who associated Pelobates with 

 Scaphiopus was too much impressed at first 

 with the special osteological character used, 

 and neglected to make a detailed compari- 

 son which would have convinced him of its 

 inferior value. 



The Eanoidea are represented in Europe 

 by only a single genus — Rana — although 8 

 of the 20 anurans beloug to it. 



Mr. Boulenger has paid much attention 

 to the geographical distribution of the Eu- 

 ropean species and has devoted a number 

 of maps (6) to the exhibition of the range 

 of the representatives of a family, genus, or 

 of nearly related species or varieties. We 

 may extend the view by a comparison of 

 the European fauna based on Boulenger's 

 figures with the North American, accept- 



ing, therefore, thefnumbers given by Cope 

 in ' The Batrachia of North America.' 



Europe. N. Amer. 

 DiSCOGLOSSIDiE 



Discoglossus 1 



Bombinator 2 



Alytes 3 



PELOBATIDiE "" : 



Pelodytea 1 



Pelobates 2 



Scaphiopus 2 



Spea 2 



TJPEROLIIDiE (CYSTIGNATHIDiE Or 

 LEPTODACTYLIDiE) 



Lithody tes . . . . '. 2 



Sy rrhopus 4 



BUFONID^ 



Bufo 3 10 



HyLID/E 



Hyla 1 9 



Pseudacris(Chorophilus) 6 



Aciis 1 



Sinilisoa 1 



ENGYSTOMIDyE 



Engystoma 1 



Hypopachus 1 



EANID.ffi; 



Eana 8 13 



It will be seen from these columns that 

 the North American fauna is much richer 

 than the European. The chief differences, 

 otherwise, are the absence of Discoglossids 

 in America and the great development in 

 North America of the Hylids — 17 American 

 against a single European species. There 

 is no great disparity between the other 

 families, although for each the American 

 species are more numerous than the Euro- 

 pean. The families indicated as represented 

 in North America and not in Europe do 

 not really belong to the Anglogsean fauna, 

 the species in question barely extending 

 within the limits of the United States, the 

 only notable exception being the Engystoma 

 carolinense, which extends as far north as 

 South Carolina and Missouri. 



The chief interest to most lovers of na- 

 ture will be in the accounts of the habits of 



