1907.] ANATOMY OF THE PELOBATIDiE. 903 



Rcma are the following : — the bronchial cartilages are two very 

 slender cartilages, one on each side. Instead of being stiff, 

 straight, thick processes as in Rana tigrina, each is a very slender 

 and ai'ched cartilage, like a bronchial half-hoop, and corresponding 

 of course to the point of opening of the king into the laiynx. I 

 could see no arborescent outgrowths of these such as Ridewood 

 has figured in liana*. Its slenderness and semilunar outline are 

 distinctive as compared with the same cartilage in Rana. The 

 second and more striking difference from Rana and from other 

 Anura relates to the middle pharpigeal process of the annulus or 

 cricoid cartilage. Instead of being a single median process, this 

 is very distinctly composed of two pieces symmetrical with each 

 other and lying closely side by side, being united by ligamentous 

 tissue. These processes are very long. It seems to be difficult to 

 avoid the conclusion that we have in this Frog a persistent 

 embryonic condition in the separateness of the two halves of the 

 cricoid. This second peculiarity of the larynx of Megaloplirys 

 nasuta (see text-fig. 240) is not, however, peculiar to that species 

 or genus. I find exactly the same double median pharyngeal 

 process of the cricoid in Megalophrys montana and in Xenophrys 

 monticola. It would appear therefore to be unlikely that the 

 disposition of these cartilages is in any way related to sex, for the 

 Xenophrys which I examined was a male and the two Megaloplirys 

 were both females. In Xenojjhrys raonticola the bronchial cartilage 

 was arched like that of Megaloplirys nasuta, but shorter and 

 rather stouter. 



In Megaloplirys 'montana these cartilages are leather more of the 

 type of Xenoplirys than of Megaloplirys montana. In all of these 

 Frogs there is an agreement in the position of the point of oiigin 

 of the bronchial-processes in which they all difler from liana. In 

 the latter genus the bronchial cartilages arise from a point not far 

 from being on a level with the posterior end of the thyi'ohyals. 

 In Megaloplirys and Xenophrys, on the other hand, these processes 

 arise much more anteriorly where the cricoid and arytenoids come 

 into contact to form a hood concealing the anterior end of the 

 aditus laryngis. I have had occasion elsewhere in this jsaj^er to 

 refer to differences between Xenophrys and Leptohracliium, which 

 is interesting in view of their recent fusion to form one genus. I 

 now find that in Leptohrachmm hasseltii there is at any rate one 

 very well marked difference in the larynx. This difference con- 

 cerns the cricoid cartilage. These cartilages are not connected 

 posteriorly, in which fact they agree with the other Oriental 

 forms of Pelobatida?. Moreover, the cartilages are very short and 

 fail by a long distance to meet in the middle line posteriorly, there 

 being of course no pharyngeal process or processes. 



* Journ. Linn. Soc, Zool. xxvi. ijl. ix. fig. 7. 



