ALLIACEOUS TOAD. 147 



disposed in a confluent manner through the whole 

 length of the spawn, instead of being placed in 

 two rows, as in the common species. This string 

 of spawn sometimes equals almost two feet in 

 length, being purposely shortened in the annexed 

 engraving, in order to bring it within the compass 

 of the plate. 



Another remarkable character in this animal, 

 and which gives rise to its name, is, that it dif- 

 fuses, on being disturbed, an extremely strong- 

 odour, resembling that of garlick or onions, and 

 which has the same effect on the eyes of those who 

 examine and handle it ; and sometimes a smell 

 resembling that of the smoke of gunpowder seems 

 to be combined with the former. 



The tadpole or larva of this species arrives at so 

 large a size, before it obtains its complete form, 

 that, according to Roesel, it is considered by the 

 country people in the neighbourhood where it is 

 found as a kind of fish, and is eaten accordingly. 

 It also serves as a good illustration of the long- 

 continued error in natural history, relative to the 

 South American species of Frog, called Rana Pa- 

 radoxa^ the tadpole of which, as the reader has al- 

 ready seen under that article, is larger in appear- 

 ance than the complete animal, and has, in conse- 

 quence of its size, been considered as a kind of 

 fish, and described in many works on natural his- 

 tory under the name of the Frog-Fish of Surinam. 

 The tadpole of the present species, in a similar 

 manner, exceeds the size of the young frog in its 

 complete state ; nor is this circumstance peculiar 



