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ON THE HERPETOLOGY OF THE GRAND DUCHY 

 OF BADEN. 



By G. Norman Douglass. 

 (Continued from Zool. 1891, page 391.) 



II. Fam. Bufonina. 



1. Bufo calamita, Laur. — Considerably more numerous in the 

 neighbourhood of Karlsruhe than the following species, though 

 less commonly met with during the daytime. The proportion must 

 be about ten calamitce to every four vulgaris, and one may fre- 

 quently count up to twenty of the former before seeing a single 

 Common Toad. The dry soil of the; " Hardwald" seems more 

 congenial to it ; and the great abundance there helps, possibly, to 

 explain the absence of B. variabilis, as it appears that these two 

 tend to exclude each other, and rarely to occur in equal numbers. 



The specimens from this district are of larger dimensions than 

 English ones. The colouring is often fairly bright, in consequence 

 of the red tint of the warts on the back (chiefly with the female 

 sex) ; the fundamental tone varies between dark brown and light 

 greyish-green. Some individuals of the latter form might easily 

 be mistaken in the twilight for variabilis, especially as the dorsal 

 groove is here not so clearly defined. 



The possession of these spinal lines, or stripes, is a common 

 trait with vertebrate animals — cf. many of the Mammalia ; the 

 vertebral zones and crests in lizards, newts, and in the embryonic 

 stage of fishes, of which latter a rudiment is retained throughout 

 life by the Salmonidce ; and, being traceable to the earliest 

 condition of all vertebrates, possesses a deeper morphological 

 significance than the other markings. 



The Natterjack is found, I believe, in every other part of the 

 Grand Duchy, as well as in all the neighbouring countries. Its 

 range does not extend so far south or east as that of B. variabilis. 

 In the Palatinate it is reported as "not very common : " I captured 

 a single specimen, in broad daylight, near Worth on the Rhine. 



2. B. vulgaris, Laur. — This is, together with Rana fusca, the 

 most widely diffused batrachian of Baden, being found in every 

 altitude and situation. 



In point of size, it seldom exceeds medium dimensions, and 

 never attains the vast proportions of some Swiss or Austrian, to 

 say nothing of Italian, specimens. As with other species protected 

 by obscure colours, there are here no marked varieties. Some 



