TRONEGUEREESS FROGS 
pole ; the life of this tadpole was cut short by alcohol, 
and it now reposes as a “‘ specimen ” in a glass bottle 
of spirits of wine. It ought to be added that the Pipa 
is tongueless as well as toothless, and that on this 
account it is referred to a group of frogs which are 
scientifically termed the Aglossa. It is probably not 
unrelated to the Plaathande or Cape clawed frog, 
Xenopus, with whose peculiarities we deal on another 
page. 
THE ADORNED CERATOPHRYS 
Had the New World been discovered when A‘sop 
wrote his fables, and anything known of its inhabitants, 
there is no doubt that that fabulist would have selected 
this toad to illustrate his fable of the Frog that would 
be an Ox. For it is not only of considerable size, 
quite as big as a blacksmith’s fist, but it puffs itself 
out under certain circumstances productive of annoyance 
until it is perfectly rotund, and still further increased 
in size. Ceratophrys is a genus of amphibians with 
several species, all of which inhabit South America. 
There are always examples at the Zoo, so that their 
characters can be studied at any time. Externally 
they present the appearance of toad, that is they have 
a peculiarly evil aspect, and are lethargic in gait, sitting 
for the most motionless esconced in a “ form” which 
they excavate or rather push into. The term toad as 
opposed to frog is somewhat difficult of definition, and 
indeed cannot be used. The more edentulous members 
of the group may perhaps be called toads; for the 
common toad as compared with the common frog 
of this country, is edentulous, having no teeth on the 
upper or lower jaws. Or a squat form with a warty 
skin may be selected as the test. But in this case some 
of the family Bufonide, the toads par excellence, will 
have to be excluded. On the whole the term toad had 
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