Vor. II] VAN DENBURGH—REPTILES—CHINA, JAPAN, FORMOSA 197 
Mounted upon the inner side of the carpus is a long, curved, 
sharply pointed bone, which seemingly is the first metacarpal. 
It is about equal in length to the other metacarpals. This 
bony spur is completely covered by the soft tissues about it. 
When, however, pressure is made upon the end of the “thumb,”’ 
this sheath of soft tissue slips back and leaves the bony weapon 
Bones of Right Hand of Babina subaspera 
exposed and ready for use. When one of these frogs is caught, 
it strives to grasp a finger between its two hands, and when 
it succeeds—as the first one did—the spurs are driven into the 
finger down to the bone. Several specimens of Rana namiyei 
were badly slashed by some B. holsti that were put into the 
same bag. One received a clean-cut wound forty-five milli- 
meters long in addition to several minor injuries. One can 
have only feelings of pity for any snake which might succeed 
in swallowing one of these dagger-frogs. 
Both of these frogs have an unusual aggregation of glands 
above the insertion of the arm. It is probable that the secretion 
of these glands might often run down into wounds made by 
the spurs. 
Babina holsti was found only on Okinawa, while Babina 
subaspera seems to be peculiar to Amami O shima. 
Babina holsti (Boulenger) 
Although described in 1892, Babina holsti has been known 
only from the unique type specimen, which was collected by 
Holst in Okinawa. We have now secured an excellent series 
of this remarkable frog from Nago, Okinawa. 
