BRACHYMERUS BIFASCIATUS. 
the hinder legs, projects considerably above the base of the thighs, and is of 
a triangular form, the apex backward. Toes perfectly free to the base, 
and each slightly dilated at the point. On the fore feet the toes 
are four in number, the outermost and the third toe, measuring from their 
base, are nearly of equal length, the second is considerably longer, and the 
innermost much shorter, and extends but little beyond the base of the third 
On the hinder feet they are five, the outermost and third toes nearly of equal 
length, the second much the longest, the fourth rather shorter than the third 
and the fifth much shorter than the fourth. All the toes have a small 
cartilaginous tubercle under each of their joints. The skin of the head is 
quite smooth, and finely porous ; that of the back and sides slightly sub- 
granular, fissured and porous ; on the sides of the neck those two kinds 
of skin are separated from each other by an elevated cuticular fold or ridge, 
which extends obliquely downwards and backwards, from the eye to the base 
of the fore leo\ Length of specimen described— from the point of the nose to 
the apex of coccyx, 1 inch 1 1 lines ; length of the fore legs from the base to 
the point of the second or longest toe lines ; length of the hinder legs, 
from the base to the apex of the longest toe 1 inch 5 lines. 
Inhabits the country to the east and north-east of the Cape Colony, and specimens are 
usually found in or about cavities which exist in the trunks of trees. On the banks of the 
Limpopo River, close to the tropic of Capricorn, a massive tree was cut down, to obtain wood 
to repair a waggon. The workman, while sawing the trunk longitudinally, nearly along its 
centre, remarked on reaching a certain part,— it is hollow, and will not answer the purpose 
for which it is wanted. He persevered, however, and when a division into equal halves was 
effected, it was discovered that the saw in its course had crossed a large hole, in which were 
five specimens of the species just described, each about an inch in length. Every exertion 
was made to discover a means of communication between the external air and the cavity, but 
without success. Every point of the latter was probed with the utmost care, and water was 
kept in each half for a considerable time, without any passing into the wood. The inner 
surface of the cavity was black, as if charred, and so was likewise the adjoining wood for 
half an inch from the cavity. The tree, at the part where the latter existed, was 
nineteen inches in diameter, the length of the trunk was eighteen feet: the age, which 
was observed at the time, I regret to say, does not appear to have been notec .. en 
the Batrachia above mentioned were discovered, they appeared inanimate, but the influence 
of a warm sun, to which they were subjected, soon imparted to them a moderate 
degree of vigour. In a few hours from the time they were liberated, they were tolerably 
active, and able to move from place to place, apparently with great ease. 
