202 



PELOBATID^. 



are small, 2 to 2^ mm. in diameter, grey or brown 

 with white lower pole, and develop rapidly ; the em- 

 bryo, gill-less and tailless, breaks through about the 

 fifth or sixth day, and attaches itself, through its 

 adhesive subcephalic apparatus, to the outer surface 

 of the mucilage. 



Fig. 76. 





Tadpole (PL II, fig. 1). — Length of body once and 

 a half to twice its width, one-half to two-thirds the 

 length of the tail. Nostrils a little nearer the eyes 

 than the end of the snout. Byes on the upper sur- 

 face, equidistant from the end of the snout and the 

 spiraculum, the distance between them at least twice, 

 sometimes nearly three times as great as that between 

 the nostrils, and greater than the width of the mouth. 

 Spiraculum on the left side, directed upwards and 

 backwards, equidistant from either extremity of the 

 body or a little nearer the anterior extremity, visible 

 from above and from below. Anal opening median, 

 a little larger than the spiraculum, and close to the 

 body. Tail twice and a half to thrice and one-fifth as 

 long as deep, acutely pointed ; upper crest convex, 

 slightly deeper than the lower, not extending far 

 upon the bade ; the depth of the muscular portion 

 at its base about half the greatest total depth. 



Beak black. Lip bordered with papillse, which form 

 two or more rows on the sides ; the papillose border 

 interrupted mesially by a narrow toothed descending 

 lobe, which appears at first sight as continuous with 

 the second upper series of teeth. This anterior series 

 is followed by three or four other series of teeth, 

 which are all widely interrupted in the middle and 



