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Show 622 MR. G. A. BOULENGER ON THE [NOV. 17, and the muciferous crypts, so distinct in B. igneus, are hardly distinguishable in the tadpoles of this species, of which I obtained a number in the Duchy of Luxemburg. However, it is very probable that such a difference would not prove constant if tested on more extensive material. The largest specimen collected by me measures 37 millim.: body 17, width of body 14 ; tail 20, depth of tail 10. Descriptions or figures are given by Lataste (Actes Soc. Linn. Bord. xxx. 1876, p. 278, pi. ix. figs. 10-12), Heron Royer and Van Bambeke (Arch, de Biol. ix. 1889, p. 282, pi. xxi. fig. 6), and Bedriaga (Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1889, p. 573). The decussating pigmentary lines appear to have been first noticed by Leydig (N. Acta Ac. Leop.-Carol. xxxiv. 1868, p. 105, pi. ii. fig. xix., and An. Batr. D. Faun. p. 56); and Pfliiger (Arch. f. Ges. Phys. xxxi. 1883, p. 139) has dwelt on the importance of this character for distinguishing this tadpole from that of Alytes. The classical work of Gotte (Entwickelungsgeschichte der Unke, Leipzig, 1875, with atlas) is devoted to the embryology of this species. This species, which has long been confounded with the preceding, inhabits France, Belgium, Switzerland, Western and Central Germany, Austria, Roumania, Italy, Dalmatia, Greece, and Turkey. It breeds from the latter half of May to the end of June, and the young leave the water in August or September. 18. ALYTES OBSTETRICANS, Laur. (Plate XLVII. figs. 6, 7.) Length of body once and one third to once and a half its width, two thirds to one half the length of the tail. Nostrils nearly halfway between the end of the snout and the eyes. Eyes on the upper surface of the body, the distance between them about twice as great as that between the nostrils, and equal to or slightly greater than the width of the mouth. Spiraculum in the mid-ventral line, a little nearer the anterior than the posterior extremity of the body. Anal opening median, very much larger than the spiraculum. Tail twice and two thirds to thrice as long as deep, ending in an obtuse point; the upper crest convex, usually a little deeper than the lower, and extending but very slightly upon the back; the depth of the muscular portion, at its base, about half the total depth. Beak white, with a broad black margin. Lip entirely surrounded by a series of papillae. Labial teeth in | series, occupying nearly the whole width of the inner surface of the lip, all continuous, or the third lower narrowly broken up in the middle; the first upper and the first lower series composed of one or two rows of teeth, the others composed of two or three rows. Lines of crypts usually very indistinct, all that can be distinguished being the usual lines from the end of the snout between the nostrils, bordeiing the eyes above, behind, and below, and forming a hoop on each side of the upper lip, a line beginning at a considerable distance behind the eye along each side of the back to the upper border of the muscular part of the tail, and another very short line close to |