The pairing and the peculiar mode of taking care of the eggs by the male, which habit has given it the specific name _obstetricans_, the midwife, have been most carefully observed by A. de l'Isle du Dréneuf, near Nantes. A condensed account has been given by Boulenger. Several males collect around a female on land, not in the water, and the successful one grasps {159}her round the waist. For nearly half an hour the male lubricates the cloacal region of the female by more than one thousand strokes of his toes, whereupon the female extends the hind-limbs, forming with the bent hind-limbs of the male a receptacle for the eggs, which are then expelled with a sudden noise. The eggs are yellow and large, up to 5 mm. in diameter, and are fastened together in two rosary-like strings, several dozen making one set. During the expulsion of the eggs the male shifts its body forwards, clasps his fore-limbs round the female's head, and fecundates the eggs. After a rest he pushes first one hind-limb and then the other through the convoluted mass of eggs, which then have the appearance of being wound round the hind-limbs in a figure of 8. Then the sexes separate and the male withdraws with its precious load into its hole, which it, however, leaves during the following nights, in search of food, taking this opportunity to moisten the eggs in the dew, occasionally even immersing them in the water. After at least three weeks, when the larvae are nearly ready, he betakes himself to the nearest water, and the larvae burst the thereby softened gelatinous cover of the eggs. Not infrequently the same male ventures upon a second pairing, and adds another load to the one which already hampers its movements. The eggs being large, owing to the great amount of yellow food-yolk, the embryos are enabled to be hatched in a more advanced stage than in most other Anura. The larva develops only one pair of external gills within the egg. These appear first in the shape of oval bags upon the third branchial arch, which sprout out secondary branches, soon in their turn to be resorbed and replaced by the so-called internal gills before hatching.