﻿PELOBATES, 
  201 
  

  

  ornata, 
  a 
  South 
  American 
  Cystignathoid, 
  of 
  likewise 
  

   nocturnal 
  and 
  burrowing 
  habits, 
  specimens 
  of 
  which 
  

   have 
  often 
  been 
  kept 
  in 
  confinement 
  in 
  this 
  country; 
  

   an 
  important 
  difference 
  being, 
  however, 
  that 
  a 
  large 
  

   CeratojjJirys 
  is 
  able 
  to 
  inflict 
  a 
  very 
  painful 
  bite 
  on 
  the 
  

   finger 
  of 
  the 
  unwary. 
  

  

  This 
  Batrachian 
  appears 
  in 
  the 
  daytime 
  only 
  during 
  

   the 
  breeding 
  season, 
  which 
  takes 
  place 
  in 
  March 
  and 
  

   even 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  May 
  * 
  in 
  Italy, 
  between 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  

   March 
  and 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  May 
  in 
  Central 
  and 
  

   JSTorthern 
  Europe, 
  stray 
  pairs 
  occurring 
  exceptionally 
  

   as 
  late 
  as 
  the 
  21st 
  of 
  July, 
  according 
  to 
  an 
  observation 
  

   made 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Van 
  Bambeke 
  at 
  Grhent, 
  Belgium, 
  in 
  

   1875. 
  At 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  pairing, 
  at 
  which 
  pools 
  or 
  deep 
  

   ditches 
  are 
  resorted 
  to, 
  the 
  males, 
  much 
  more 
  nume- 
  

   rous 
  than 
  th.e 
  females, 
  utter 
  under 
  water 
  a 
  mono- 
  

   tonous, 
  constantly 
  repeated 
  note 
  — 
  cloch-cloch, 
  clock' 
  

   clock-cloch, 
  — 
  produced 
  by 
  alternately 
  shifting 
  the 
  air 
  

   backwards 
  and 
  forwards 
  from 
  the 
  capacious 
  lungs 
  

   into 
  the 
  buccal 
  cavity. 
  The 
  female, 
  which 
  answers 
  

   by 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  grunt 
  or 
  a 
  deep 
  toch-tocJc-tock, 
  is 
  seized 
  

   round 
  the 
  waist, 
  and 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  expelled, 
  more 
  or 
  

   less 
  rapidly, 
  either 
  immediately 
  or 
  within 
  a 
  few 
  days. 
  

  

  The 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  larval 
  life 
  varies 
  considerably; 
  as 
  

   a 
  rule, 
  the 
  final 
  transformation 
  takes 
  place 
  from 
  the 
  

   beginning 
  to 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  summer, 
  but 
  several 
  cases 
  of 
  

   larval 
  hibernation 
  have 
  been 
  observed 
  by 
  Pfliiger 
  and 
  

   Kollmann. 
  

  

  Eggs. 
  — 
  The 
  contents 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  oviducts 
  fuse 
  in 
  the 
  

   cloaca, 
  and 
  are 
  expelled 
  in 
  a 
  thick 
  band 
  15 
  to 
  20 
  mm. 
  

   in 
  diameter 
  when 
  swollen 
  up, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  ova 
  are 
  

   irregularly 
  disposed 
  at 
  small 
  interspaces. 
  These 
  

   bands, 
  which 
  have 
  a 
  strong 
  smell 
  of 
  fish, 
  are 
  twisted 
  

   round 
  weeds 
  by 
  the 
  female 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  laid. 
  The 
  ova 
  

  

  * 
  According 
  to 
  Spall 
  anzani, 
  who 
  described 
  tlie 
  oviposition 
  in 
  a 
  pair 
  

   brought 
  to 
  him 
  in 
  May, 
  1780, 
  by 
  a 
  fisherman 
  at 
  Pavia, 
  and 
  who 
  

   received 
  afterwards 
  other 
  pairs 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  species 
  (CEuvres 
  de 
  

   Spallanzani, 
  III, 
  'Experiences 
  pour 
  servir 
  a 
  I'histoire 
  de 
  la 
  Genera- 
  

   tion/ 
  Pavie, 
  1787, 
  p. 
  137). 
  As 
  Crivelli 
  and 
  Camerano 
  have 
  shown, 
  

   Spallanzani 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  after 
  Posel 
  to 
  observe 
  this 
  curious 
  Batra- 
  

   chian, 
  which 
  was 
  not 
  rediscovered 
  in 
  Italy 
  until 
  ninety 
  years 
  later. 
  

  

  