HORNED TOAD. 



16S 



thence decreasing gradually, so as to appear nar- 

 row over the hind parts : it is also beset with small 

 specks like pearls. All the rest of the body is 

 rough with sharp spines, except the head, which 

 is variegated with white, and the abdomen, which 

 is of a deep rufous yellow. The legs are sur- 

 rounded by a kind of bands or fillets, and the toes 

 are marked in a similar manner, and resemble in 

 some degree the human fingers, and are four in 

 number on the fore legs, and five on the hind : the 

 hind feet are also webbed. The head is very large 

 and thick, and when the mouth is opened, exhi- 

 bits a broad and thick tongue, shaped somewhat 

 like an oyster, and fastened in front to the lower 

 jaw, but loose behind, as in frogs : it is also co- 

 vered over with papilla : on each side the head, 

 above the eyes and wide mouth, is a black spot on 

 a white ground. The female agrees in all respects 

 with the male, except that the mouth is still 

 wider, and the front is variegated in a somewhat 

 dilFerent manner : between the eyes is a broad 

 stripe, growing narrower on the nose : beneath 

 each eye is a spot resembling an additional or false 

 eye: the hind feet very much resemble hands, 

 having a thumb and four fingers, without being 

 webbed as in the male. 



Seba seems to have been misinformed as to the 

 native country of this species, which he imagined 

 to be Virginia ; but the animal is now known to 

 be a native of South America only. 



It appears that this animal was pretty well de- 

 scribed so long ago as the year 1726, in the cat a- 



