COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 4 r ^ 



last phalanx of the fingers widened into a disk, 

 by means of which they can walk and fix on 

 smooth surfaces with their body downwards. 

 More than thirty species of this genus are in the 

 collection. That which is more commonly found 

 in France is of a green colour, with a yellow 

 and black stripe on each side ; it climbs on trees 

 and fixes on the leaves, and it does not pair before 

 four years old. The colours in the foreign spe- 

 cies are generally more varied ; the most cele- 

 brated amongst them is the frog, the blood of 

 which is employed for colouring the feathers of 

 birds, and which we mentioned in speaking of 

 the parrot of the Moluccas. 



The toads (bufo) are more squabby than the 

 frogs ; their body is covered with a sort of foetid 

 humour ; they are the most hideous and disgust- 

 ing of the reptiles, but are not venomous. Of 

 the thirty species in the collection, we shall only 

 mention the four following amongst the Euro- 

 pean. The common toad (b. vulgaris), which 

 is found in dark recesses, and pairs in the water ; 

 its female is of a surprising fecundity ; the 

 spawn is enveloped in two gelatinous strings 

 from 20 to 3o feet long, which the male draws 

 off with its legs. The bufo calamita, or rush 

 toad, which has a strong smell of gunpowder ; 

 lives in the clefts of walls, and takes to the water 



