BREEDING HAMT AND DEVELOP. OF RACOPHOßUS 



have been long in the hollow, for the latter was not yet completed in 

 some respects. Warned by previous failures, I placed the pair gently 

 in an already prepared glass-jar and covered it with a piece of black 

 cloth, allowing an observer to peep in only from two opposite sides. I 

 took the jar on my table and sat watching the animals until eleven 

 o'clock at night. But the animals were no doubt frightened by abnormal 

 conditions and could not be induced to deposit eggs. On the next day 

 (the 27th.), however, when I returned home at (i P. M. I found that the 

 animals had just begun spawning. The frothy mass was only about 

 3 cm. in diameter and contained about 20-30 eggs. The female was 

 incessantly contorting her body. In order to watch these movements 

 more satisfactorily, I lifted up slightly one end of the cloth-cover, but 

 the instant I did so, the female ceased her movements and retreated 

 into the frothy substance behind her. After these manœuvers were 

 repeated two or three times on her part and mine, I boldly took away 

 the cloth wholly from the jar. At first, the female hesitated, but after' 

 some time she began to deposit eggs, as if she did not mind light at 

 all. Now, at last, my wish of many years standing was gratified and 

 I could make exact obsevations. 



The act of pairing in this species is not performed differenti} 7 from 

 other anurans, but the positions and movements of the hind limbs in 

 both the male and female are very characteristic of the species. When 

 the female is at rest, with the male on her back, the anterior part of 

 her body is raised on the anterior limbs, but the posterior part of the 

 belly lies fiat on the floor and the loin is lowered so that the ventral 

 margin of the cloaca comes into direct contact with the floor. The 

 three portions (the femur, the crus, and the pes) of her hind limbs 

 assume the following peculiar positions : the femur is directed anteriorly 

 and externally, its lower surface ùit least its proximal portion) touching 

 the floor ; the knee is flexed as much as it can be, so that the crus comes 

 to he dorsally to the femur, and the ankle-joint is drawn on the back of 

 the animal, on the side of the posterior part of the urostyle. The 

 ankle -joint is also deeply flexed and the distal part of the pes touches 



